you old soul,
your shy and knobby little fingers yearn for the sky
yet just barely reach the rotting corners of a building neglected,
a transparent grace of knowledge and long forgotten words of those who are passed on.
a leaf that sinks just like the hearts of those that pass by,
day after day after day
yet you cast your thick and lonely shadows onto those who are none the wiser
never realizing the wisdom and power you hold
oh, if only your roots became strong legs,
allowing you to leave behind the never-changing prison of dirt and worms and decomposing bodies of the insects that earn a single day of life and nothing more.
what have you seen, oh silent giant of the forest?
where might your mouth be,
so that I may listen to all your hushed secrets?
I'll never know
perhaps that's what you wanted all along,
to watch and listen for centuries.
until death do us part,
keep your knowledge a secret, just as you always have,
you mighty elm beast.