fauxcroft

I walk through the New Forest

And I see great trees fallen

Did anybody hear it as it toppled

As it then hit the ground

The great tree lay silent now

Not like a memory of its once great self

Reaching high, reaching towards the sky

Now just laid to rest, sadly past its best

Rootball showing for all to see

Leaving its giant footprint

I touch its now decaying bark

I stroke the moss that grows along its trunk

And say and eldritch prayer of peace and love

I feel sorrow for this once great tree

I feel a sense of overwhelming grief

Hare now of its once beautiful leaves

Stricken now from view what was once

A magnificent specimen proud and strong

It is now just a memory for those who recall

This once great tree of old

With all the stories to be told

Of weather’s and wars it withstood

Felled by a disease no doubt that infected its wood

Caused it to slowly die over time

Before it finally gave in and fell upon its side

Now silent and motionless, merely now a log

For people to sit and kids to play on

So in a way it’s still serving some purpose

But not the one as a seedling it set out to be.

Image courtesy of Pinterest