The man was akin to a bough,
He has had a long life,
Knowing whether it has been good or foul is impossible,
He can no longer speak,
It can only be read upon his gnarled bark,
His worn face,
Stories carved into knots and wood,
Legends and legacies,
Storied mosquitoes in amber,
History written in oak,
This storied gentleman stands tall,
Thought scored by the years,
He is a monument to his own life,
Paragraphs in timber,
The years read out in rings,
A gigantic redwood in the forest,
Bare in the winter.
