Once upon a time
A man planted two trees
Maybe a symbol
To a lover, a history lost
Maybe just because

I bought the house
And the trees came with
Grown and strong
First apart and then adjoined
At their base, they were separate
By time, they joined
Leaning on each other

Their strength was together
Withering many storms
Winds that crashed
All too many others
And they were the last I owned

One day they fell, some fool
Brought nails, too early on
Pegged a sign, maybe for some yard sale
And the nail was planted
But they grew around
Thought, together
Thought they were strong

But the trees felt rot
It crept right in
They had ignored the wedge
Guilt and rot set in
And, together they fell

Their roots, I found
Together, tangled and proud
I couldn't tell, one from another
So close they had grown
How broken they ripped
The trees were close
Almost just as one

The greatest trial they faced
And that bit of nail
Rusted and brown
A storm like no other
Brought them both down

One fell away, another the other
Both against even the wind
The great storm, just another
They broke at the nail
Created by another
Such a small thing
But never recovered