02 Dec WITNESS

This is a tree that knows me

I played under its branches as a child

Its weathered trunk may well be heavier

but these longer limbs can still embrace

Its shadow has stretched in the late afternoon

Though all around has been relabelled progress

it has set itself in this fickle landscape and

reached an accommodation with the sky

Of course, the sun is the same sun

but it has no sense of loyalty

There is commitment with a tree

This is an old friend

that knew well

those we’ve lost

When I’m gone

it will still know

and it will remember

that I spoke of you