A fallen tree, like a knocked-out tooth
Sky and light the gap in a smile
Mangled roots below, piled limbs above
Cleared from the road but not from the glen
60 years’ work to raise a successor
If we start now
Or will the mown grass already surrounding
Simply absorb the ground-out stump
Shade and leaf fading into memory
As the crop that bears no fruit
Further stakes its claim

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