For The Fallen Poem by Maggie DeMay

The winds howled
with the screams of a million
murdered trees

And when it was over
and we crawled
from beneath the rubble
of what once was
and looked around
to find everything had changed

An oak will stand and grow
for 200 years
watching, in its own slow way
the seasons pass
and turn to years
and then decades
and centuries

Then in a moment
the winds come
and the tides
and the rain

Pines that stood for years
wreched from the gound
their roots, once buried deep
exposed to the light

Tall and statley pecans
lie on broken limbs
uprooted, displaced

Houses may be smashed
buildings can be broken
but when all is said and done
can be rebuilt

A tree, once felled
is gone forever