The Eye of the Branches

The Eye of the Branches

The eye looked out through living wood,

Its gaze both endless, calm, and near,

It saw the secrets buried deep,

It saw the things we hide in fear.

The branches twisted, veins of thought,

The forest breathed beneath the skin,

And in that still, unblinking stare,

I saw the life that might have been.

It wasn’t human, yet it felt,

The sorrow that the world forgot,

It watched the souls that lost their way,

And wept for every empty spot.

The roots ran deep through memory,

Through all that’s died, through all that stays,

It saw the start, it saw the end,

It knew the truth of all our days.

And as I met its solemn gaze,

I felt my pulse begin to fade,

For in that eye, both life and death,

Were one and same — forever made.