Roots

The womb lies deep in branches
Entangled upon age old bark
Inside the sweet babe prances
A naked joy softly stark

Light breaks through uneven seams
A sharp glow seeps through the leaves
And from her sap the babe weans
As her lonely mother grieves

For when the moment arrives
The babe will break through her walls
Igniting flames in maddened eyes
That watch the mother tree fall

Roots slither into the ash
Taking hold of a sleeping warmth
While limbs above fiercely thrash
Upon famished insect swarms

The locusts and moths well know
The babe is wrong and wretched
And as armies fly and flow
Her leaves become digested

But the daughter does not fall
She only stands black and gray
On the ash that gave her all
And here the price paid shall stay