a locust stump

 

spirit enduring?

in the mid-1960s,

I saw a yellow locust tree

hard by the swiftly dropping creek,

I wanted a log to anchor a dam,

so I chainsawed the tree

and cobbled together a dam that held for a time,

I am sure high water did it in,

for at least 60 years the stump has endured,

while other locust trees, felled near the same time,

have no base that is still with us,

split rails from those trees do last, though,

is there any chance this old locust's roots still endure

and live as presence within the fungal network below?

that's where I'm learning community is often built,

is it outlandish to imagine

spirit enduring after death?

we treasured the Great Poplar

who lived at the head of a cove hardwood valley,

the Great Fire of 2016 burned its green away,

and now its trunk dries and no longer thrives,

what chance is there

that it will serve as grandparent

to the newly-configured amalgam of old and older trees,

and opportunistic poke weed and blackberry?

by Henry H. Walker

August 21, '25