The gnarled tree
contorted,
twisted in grimace,
distorted by wind and rain,
planed by ice, sliced, enlaced
as vicissitudes of climate
scooped and hollowed and rimed,
an aged face stooped; beyond
a century or more of grind.
Misshapen; persecuted even,
embellished features
tortured into resonances
relished by skeletons.
Enamelled, frosted into elegance
but still, still, still here, still
hanging on, an earthly Orion
unbreakable, steeled, riveted,
A grip of iron.