Dying trees fall easily. br Poems, too, as they should. br Dead wood rots from which br One good poem may grow, br The better to hear in the higher br Branches, the creaking lower limbs. br br Sequestering lovers late afternoon br Whisper. One is carving the bark, br A crude heart with names within. br br Now unread, unspoken but for the overgrown br Path, a bark-less scar now where was the heart, br Without thought, without desire, write only this, br br 'How arms entwine, how branches break'.