Towards morning I heard a crash
but could find nothing in the dark
but
at dawn outside my window
the huge pine tree that loomed for years above us
and
where the owl would fly off
the hawk would land
had fallen
I ran outside and there it lay strewn across the land,
missing houses, people, with only edges of a fence
sheared off
opening a boundary
the pine lies quietly as woodpeckers attempt to retrieve their cache
for the cold winter ahead
I thought it fitting today the tree that fell this morning
is both the loss of home to so many
but now fills the land with nutrients that till the soil
Later I bring a bag of raw peanuts
placing them on the branches and surfaces for birds to gather
all around the tree
