And the Axe Forgets

does the rock cry out

when the river carves it out achingly slow?

does the hay bale protest

when the whistling arrow pierces it?

why must the tree remember?

who made the tree remember? I just want to talk to them

how many axes can the trunk of my heart recall

how many gouges can my grizzled heart take

before it splits

when you hear the crackle of a blazing hearth

don‘t forget

the tender hacking it took

for you to warm yourself

in the glow of my combustion

the tree remembers

but the forest lives

and the axe dulls anyways