Old Growth

Great tree of mystery
Give up your secrets
Standing a lonely watch
Circled by turbulent air

Spread out your branches
Catch raindrops falling
Shelter my weary body
From storm’s open fury

Your trunk growing strong
Standing against the night
Supporting a world of its own
Standing strong for the weight

Firmly rooted in the earth
Braced hard against the fury
Of the earth’s mighty breath
Swaying in total rhythm

Fortress in the gray sky
Home for all the ages
Know that you are needed
Our lives flow in your sap

In life you stand tall
A link for sky and the earth
In death you give of self
Helping new growth to its birth

Life recycled to new life
Rotting transferred to growth
Your time is more that yours
It is a part of the continuum

Stand tall against the tragedy
Of man’s ego playing fast
Teach us the lessons of time
May old growth always last