This is the world
       in which we walk
: leaves peppered
       with dark spots
and shotholes and
       cankers on the trunk
and dieback
       here and there
on the branches
       or blossom blast
in spring or
       early summer
when flowering shoots
       wilt or wither

And the question – why is it
       that disease is
an integral part
       of nature’s process ?
and why do some trees
       die while most survive ?

I stand on the ocean shore
       in awe of its eternal tides
No silence can compete
       with its incessant roar
no rock can withstand
       its ravenous tongue
and I think of her gentle face
       and of all the love
that time so simply
       swept away