Planting Aspen Saplings

Planting aspen saplings
father and son

though I might not live to see
them grow to full height

their grey bark covered in lichen  
flowering catkins in the spring,

or listen to their leaves tremble
at the slightest breeze.            

Son, you’re quick to share 
the story of this native’s decline

how this is where it belongs—         
a wet moorland on the west. 

You talk of the nature of roots
the unseen suckers underneath

how colonies from a single seed 
can endure a thousand years  

even sending up new trunks  
in a forest fire’s charred aftermath. 

You tell me of the tree’s offer                       
to gall midges, birds, hare, deer    

the importance of relationships
the interconnectedness of everything.
 
They do not thrive in shade, need light                     
and space to grow. 

Planting aspen saplings, 
son and father.