Soaring southern columns
imagination-stretchers
beyond lofty cloud tops
staid New England pillars
well and deeply grounded
with elephant-footed roots
Pinus taeda to P. strobus
loblolly and white
parenthetical to my life
friendliest giants
stalwart companions
in protective stance
longtime overseers
mostly benevolent
to denizens underneath
sentient sentries
above the human fray
until decapitated.
