Broken Tree Shelters

Broken tree shelters
Split and cast aside
By growing bodies
That they had been set in place
To protect
Rest uneasy in their scattered,
Fragmented array of non-decayed plastic
Still tethered to those preservative-soaked stakes
Set in place to support them
By a visionary forester
Deceased
Who knows how many years ago, now

They tell their story of dereliction
In the line of their duty
Serving an uncertain future

Above them, swelling oak trunks
Hold out their rough arms
Providing home and shelter
For epiphytic growth of bryophytes and lichens
In diverse profusion