petrified forest

The tree had lain so long it had become stone,
a subtle marvel of tiny crystals each exactly in the shape
of a cell of wood. Even when they lived, these had
been here awhile, in the way of redwoods-- and they remain,
while all around new fronds unfurl, of polypody fern
that grew in their shade as a living tree.

simplicity

One moment is
a pair of mallards ambling
across new grass; another is
one merganser moving
directly over water.