The Argument of the Trees

     -I-

Juniper-piñon have at it,
Knotting roots through overgrazed ground.

The one with the tiny blue cones
That could pass for dusky berries

Appears cheerier, but twisted,
And holds the older, drier soul.

The spikier one the jays love,
The one with desirable seeds,

Takes the aloof, optimistic role
Appropriate to monastics,

Grows mystic, an elf tree of life,
An incense for eternal flame.

It hugs and shares the higher ground
While juniper devours scoured dirt.

The shorter-lived beasts move through both
Thoughts under branches of language,

Perpetuating a debate
No jay, coyote, or spider

Will ever span from end to end.
The horned gods themselves will forget

Their advancements advocated
By browsing lightning-struck notions

Of what belongs where and whether
Trees can or should keep faith. Begin. . . .

     -II-

I advance a parable
Of equanimity, states
The juniper. I admit

I have the greater fortune
In the current disaster.
Others' loss of habitat

Has been my gain. But recall,
Individuals arise
And then find themselves stranded

When the next twist in the winds
Sweeps the ground from under them.
Populations never know.

I found myself congenial
To the ground in which I grew.
Envy me. I find myself

Tonight at the outer edge
Of the moisture my roots hunt.
Pity me. Discovery

Disabuses me of hope
And other things with feathers
You, for instance, would require

For any seeds to take root.
Envy me. And so on. This
Is the wisdom of borders.

     -III-

Friend, I watch you thrive and am content,
Smiles the pine, a little spikily,
From lofty, precarious retreats
Where the air is cooler and clearer,

Though neither cool nor as clear as once.
Every abbey in the mountains falls
Under the sway of this or that reign,
But the green wheel spins eternally.

I savor your equanimity,
But feel no need to participate
In distinctions of one and many.
I rejoice in my community,

And in the resilience of the true,
The authentic, the dependent
On one another. I love the blue
Of the birds that steal and save my thoughts

For later, ineluctable fates,
The fresh incarnations of one life.
There is no winning or losing. This
Is the faith of quiet withdrawal.

     -IV-

I would love to have faith for faith,
But I know how intent you are
In keeping your faith in yourself,

Which can't help keep deceiving you,
Replies the juniper in turn.
And so they go on together,

With none, least of all them, knowing
How much longer this partnership
Can continue coexisting,

Although the latest threats to them
Secretly still crave to see them
Contesting, canyon by canyon.