Dendrochronology
~scientific method of tree ring dating and climate analysis
poplar’s underground birth
roots to truth of its god
quick-pithed and straight.
oak, the historian, bark-ridged
in hieroglyphs of remembrance.
begin in the middle of a stump
count each dark ring,
as a year of small tasks
of recorded contentment,
in growing your own home—
pigmenting each season.
kiss the altar of Methuselah,
the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine
of 5,000 years.
outside the night window
winter maple casts lacework
on your torso
you,
are not naked
covered, in silver-shine.
moon cools worries
wakes you to knowing
how to glow in darkness
when to stand in shadow
halfway, a quarter, or hidden
unseen
not empty.
Beautiful poem, I love it!
Visual. Thoughtful. A keeper. Thank you.