mother tree

mother tree.

a two thousand year old tree opens
its palms to the hot smoky air
unfurling needles, sucking in carbon. 
roots spread even now
into the soil made of her own barked body
hundreds of years gone.

below, tiny humans splash water on the bone-like roots.
this tree is worth saving they say, scrambling
to keep the embers from the nearby fire
blooming int…