In the woods
where ocher honeycomb
polygons adorn
the ash,
sable mosaic chips
jigsawed together
enwrap the spruce,
pink-tinged swirls
like fingerprint whorls
tattoo the apple tree,
miniature fungi-umbrellas
the color of almond slivers
attach like children
to the sorrel skin
of the elm,
and the birch
sheds its
gold-shimmer skin
living continuously
in new beginnings,
secreted
beneath the earth
their roots twine
mycorrhizal networks
like neural pathways
bond this arboreal congregation
into a single organism
sending sustenance
to the frailest, the neediest
no matter that
it was seeded by
a different family;
as one they drink
and breathe and mend
together reaching
for light.
