Harz

The trees, I believe, no better than these
Grassland apes afraid of their own shadows,

Have had their vertically-challenged revenge.
All around them, stones rose to defy woods,

But trees borrowed mutualist fungi
Older than most known rocks, and defied back.

Now, the little mammals, wobbling big heads
Balanced on china-plate necks, expunge these

Ghosts by exploding apart rock cliff walls
Tree roots took centuries to render weak.

The oaks, firs, and cedars will forgive them
Depredations of the carpet of life

For finally exacting life's vengeance
On a stony universe that felt free

To burn whatever dared, however green,
However blue, to desire life, like trees.