Washed by melt water

Running away from burst banks 

Flood levels rising 

Everything is new

The horizon turning blue

A fresh fall of snow

Fresh tracks in white snow

Where you trip I will follow 

Willow boughs groan low

Works of patient love 

Then destroyed in a moment

By flame and fire 

Lifelong possessions

Carried from pillar to post 

Going up in smoke

A change you can’t see

Severed, irreversible 

Sorry little tree

Sharp teeth and strong head

Gnawing, chopping and felling

Saw and axe regret

Pale grassy reed stems

Divide murky swamp waters

Dark clouds in the marsh

Fierce white fangs bite hard

Piercing skin deep to the bones 

A frosty morning 

The expansive sky

Ever changing, never still

Uncapturable 

Falling angel wings

After the scene has finished 

Quickly discarded 

Long thin tree fingers

Creep across the canopy 

Woodland blood vessels 

The milk has been spilt

Trees felled, shells smashed, bridges burnt

And stitches undone

Rain on the skylight

In the attic curled up tight

‘gainst the stormy night 

Long pale limbs stripped bare

Whipped with wild winter winds

Sleep well summer trees