Imagine the Sound

Yes, it most certainly made a sound.

I saw that tree when it stood,

It was a tall and proud tree,

Deeply rooted in the finest black dirt,

Branches shading the soft mossy knoll,

Reaching for the sky, embracing the sun,

Trunk sturdy and absolute in strength,

Many winds tried and many winds failed,

For this tree stood resolute and full,

It grew through times of plenty,

It survived times of drought,

It grew in times of peace and calm,

It stood through the fiercest storm,

It blossomed under the drifting clouds,

Day after day now too many to recall,

Generations of birds like layers of years,

Rested soundly in its sturdy limbs,

Sitting and calling an unknown song,

Yet comfortably familiar in tone and melody,

Every star in the dark sky was searched,

Every insect in the forest was greeted,

Every season reinforced the rhythm of time,

Repeating the song, repeating the rhythm,

To know this prize, there always comes a cost,

For all of its sturdy strength could not save it,

Vast width and height could not keep it up,

In the fullness of time it was sure to fall,

A one way ticket back into the Earth it knew,

Split and twisted, its thirsty roots exposed,

A fall back into time which it could not know.

It certainly would not go quietly.