Notes from a forest

Lichen inching its way
up the trunk of a pine tree –
the distance, unknown,
of the journey ahead.

   *

Silence –
the forest’s soundtrack
to growth and decay.

   *

Fallen leaves –
the compositions of trees.

   *

Rotting tree trunk –
food and accommodation
for a burgeoning termite population.

   *

Small bird on the wing,
minstrel of the morning –
will you return to lend your song
to that chorus, at dusk,
among the darkening branches?

- Eduard Burle