Groundswell

Groundswell

Wiliness disguised you, wanderer.
The tree roots spread wide
and deep as branches grow
above this house. Seclusion

formed the rooftree.
The rooms we added
around that tree, field
of our being littered

by sediment, bones, secrets
rooted like Odysseus’ bed
to shape our marriage.
Edge bark bruised by cold.

Dark rings of sapwood
scarred by insect, narrowed
by drought, moved inward
behind smooth years’ passage.

Here, neither first nor last
We lived determined.
Your strength in ordinary
accident, my respite.

Rings circle me. Peace
at the core, the heartwood.
Certain of the path,
I will not leave.

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