Antonio Rodríguez | CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Now Whither?

Now aspen —
like, the leaf
is shaken
with first whiff
of smoke’s choke —
a-sunder
rent, the oak —
with thunder
of thousand
lesser trees —
falls: from stand
proud to knees
down driven:
halved, in twain
split, riven
— ne’er again
with the wind
duet dance,
hope to find
one more chance
— nothing left
but the rift:
growing cleft
of the drift
to the ground,
once again
— still earth-bound,
ball and chain
the gap ’tween
wish and fact —
what may’ve been
and the act —
Nothing new,
leaf’s wither
— year sere, too —
Now whither?