today you made my bones shiver
like you were the winter frost
and i was an an old birch tree
i can feel my leaves turning crisp
breaking off, crumbling
deteriorating

today you made my bark peel
flecks of me twisting onto the solid dirt
turning cold in the frost, hard and stiff
leaving me naked before you
I am splinters and knots
vulnerable

today you came as the axeman
blunt weapons at my side
the deer are scattering at the noise
the birds tweeting madly, desperate
the wolves howling
you've stolen my limbs now
claimed them as your own

I am only a stump