truncated

 truncated

around that hollow centre

the tree’s trunk knows of

the sap’s long climb from the 

roots that tongue the rain

that leach the mire’s wine

how

that hollow centre burned 

all the way with soot

and still the sap smiles 

however many miles it climbs 

how

that hollow centre is a weight 

off its mind 

the outermost circle

a cooper’s band that barrels

the wood of a tree’s demise

to hold enough time for

a forest to grow a familiarity