Camouflaged Loss

Stumbled upon, invaded

Graveyards of trees, dismembered, raided –

Branches strewn like bones

Disjointed skeletons,

Confused snakelike pieces

A jumbled tangled mass where life ceases –

Now as lifeless as stone;

What it could tell of remains unknown.

What life did it witness

New life urges

In callous disregard, in pushes, surges –

Feeding, learning, growing

Off forms beyond knowing

And weighted now

The sampling bow

As if tired to the earth by invisible strings

Striving to make sense of all things

As the earth heaves to camouflage its loss

In vaulted fungi and carpet moss.

Mel Dixon