The tree persisted long,
the old grey tree in the backyard, standing among the yellow
of Autumn, dancing in stillness to a song of years
long passed.
It spread itself across the grey sky
spreading its leafless branches long and thin,
reaching for the magpies.
They entered its chilling embrace, adding to the color of a final smile
before winter wooed it into yet another rest;
A smile for which it grasped the world with its feeblest twigs
and swore once more that it would never die.
Published in Resilience: A Collection, 2021.