The tree

(How many times have you chopped yourself down?)

In the morning breeze

or the fading sunlight

Tall and strong, he stood

by the roadside

We greeted, in silence

every time we met

Each day

He bathed in the rain

sunshine

and starlight

Watching passers by

never a word

Years gone by

Then one day

he was there no more

My heart wept

for his fate

and I grieved

for him, and myself