The biggest trees ache
with the most snow.
The smaller ones
shake theirs off
but the giant oaks
are betrayed
by their myriad dead branches,
each reaching out like a beggar’s hand
for a little of snow or ice.
The giants are trapped
by winter,
frozen behemoths,
that not even wind can free.
From mountaintop to forest,
the season has its sentries,
unwilling conscripts all.
