Once there was earth
soil that lay over seed
soil that broke with stem and leaf
soil that made way for root;
once there was a tree
of trunk and branch
now leafed now shedded;
and from earth
and other seed
other root and longing
there came man
there came women;
and as tree crafts them
they craft tree,
at times soft and at times rough,
and in the vessels they are
and the vessels they make
the poundings given and taken
shelter and ingratitude
resurrection of the dead
there is wood and timber
earth and soil
moved and moving
and love
that stays
long after tree
long after man and woman
long after death,
in and out of soil
because of root
and arms that reached
and touched a sky.
