of course the trees have names
and stories, a history that’s tragic
and spectacular
I’ve just discovered them
after all these years
of placing my feet
on pine floors
in spruce houses
curled up inside
the bodies of trees
never wondering
about their beginnings
or the fabric of forests
how the trees talk
how they must want to live
as much as every vibrant thread
that pulses with chemical synthesis
the center of a tree is dead
it’s the heartwood
that surrounds us