Size: 34 x 13
Private Collection
TOUGH ROOTS
Dead as a stone? No.
These roots live.
Quickened by pulsing sun,
a tough tree vibrates outer warmth,
relays inner strength,
feels the tug of stubborn roots.
Unflinching under the lash of storms,
a tree remembers it held fast
when ice catapulted from far north
in lightning hails of thunder.
Isolated in back acres, concrete cities,
stubborn roots stone-contained
resist, no matter what machines
stutter angrily overhead
with great teeth.
Jean McCallion, 2007
