A sanctuary from heat when the sun lay too bright,

a monument of secrecy when the sky fades to black.

You transform as the night becomes more dense,

standing, a looming figure the moonlight falls upon,

a halo of leaves for the wind to slither through.

Amazing how something so still can be so graceful,

a beauty only nature can inspire.

You stood through raging winds and crystal blades from the sky,

your arms flailing and bending with the wind.

Though your trunk remained immobile as the eyes of the deceased,

Fate’s anger at your persistence shot down from the sky,

zigzagging from the heavens as it came,

shattering you.

A simple living statue, nature’s haven,

fragment of Mother Nature’s soul, lay on our grounds.

—Feb. 17, 2010