A PINE TREE

A pine tree stands alone in fog
branches unseen high above
Little drops of water fall
on needles piled below

Whether spring, summer, fall
one cannot tell
But not winter, certainly not winter
There is no snow

Black marks on the trunk
show the last time the forest burned
Not too recently
The needles are piled too deeply

Everything is so quiet in the fog
No sounds of birds or squirrels
No wind
Just an abiding silence

He stood here once
on another day
listening to the silence
still in love with living

And he stands here now


Jim Morgan-- 2/23/12