Enduring the seasons
light passes into dark
submitting to winter elongation
comfort of long nights
Under blankets of crystals
roots in rain soaked peat
encouraged by vernal radiation
seeking growth in the light
Survival in the exposure
winds fed by Atlantic rage
rains like hell from heavens
twisted existence resolute
Insignificant beside the trail
that leads curious minds
to seek meaning from
megalithic constructions
Each limb a monument
a testament of contortion
hardened with determined
will of a natural survivor
Through the dark wood
life grows concentric
emerging in leafy greens
celebrating with blooms
Montane life of persistence
demure beauty
twisted by reality
survival the life sentence .
Ciaran Burke
