The Bristlecone Pine

 

A steadfast mother in ancient Mesopotamia

was teaching her daughter to weave wool

to provide warmth in the coming winter

of the river lands of the Fertile Crescent,

the life-sustaining Tigris and Euphrates, 

as father directed water to desperate crops.

 

Somewhere just below the tree line in the 

White Mountains of eastern California, 

a seedling begins new life, its tentacle like 

roots gripping into the rocky dolomite soil

as winds of fine sand cut through the dry

rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada.

 

Today, the antediluvian sentinel Methuselah

stands, the proud protector of the Great Basin

Bristlecone Pine progeny, its gnarled hardwood 

arms reaching out like burghers cast in bronze, 

nature’s historic monument, a reminder to

remain open to mystery and wonder.

​

*Originally appeared in Humana Obscura #1