Confines
Red-Raw Roots Strewn Bare
For the World to See
– Not That They’d Look.
This Level of Vulnerability Could Be Admirable
If You’d Had A Say In The Matter.
Your Inner Layers Lie Uncovered,
Your Cortex Shield Stripped Back From Stress.
It Wasn’t Meant To Be This Way;
You Were Supposed To Have A Choice.
Your Desperate Attempts To Grow Sideways
From Your Confines
Do Not Go Unnoticed as I Eye the Cause Of Your
Constriction – A Tree ‘Guard’ You Have
Long Outgrown.
Your Needs Have Changed, And Your
Circumstances Have Not
– What A Shame This Is Your Fate.
I Wonder If You Wish You Were Never
Planted At All.
.
Originally written in Autumn ’20/21, and occasionally edited since then, most recently on 19/01/25. Written about trees at my local nature walk, that became sick due to their tree guards not being removed