Frozen snow crystals
and freezing temperatures
force Tree boughs
to bend perilously.
Unnaturally.
Arcing earthward –
the Burden of Ice
is too heavy to bare.
Sudden cracks
split the air
as limbs are
torn from
a mother’s
body.
She may never
recover
from these losses.
Yet those ripped asunder
will continue to share
the Story.
Amazingly,
Mothers are extremely resourceful.
Most live on.
Some learn strategies
to heal blood wounds.
Others learn to thrive!
But the Tree’s Story
has been written,
embedded,
in cellular bodies –
visible on the outside
as a screaming scar.
A withering twig.
A few have black holes
dead center,
only discernable
to those
who see.
Over The Edge and Beyond: Journal of a Naturalist 