Viridian moss
A dead stump
An empty hollow
Giving life a home

Ants marching
Red and black
Their insignificant war fought
Over crumbs
Snails oozing along
Mice scurrying
All in the warm damp embrace
Of the wizened old stump
A haven and a battleground
A home and a tomb
Once standing tall
Now a ruin

Little stump in the woods
Your story is more immense
Than we can comprehend
A saga of storms weathered
Fires endured
Creatures inhabited
Until finally the hatchet spilt
Your lifeblood sap
Upon the coarse dirt
Where life began anew
Stump in the woods
I thank you
For your unspoken wisdom