The Tree With a Face

The Tree With a Face
 
The gnarled face grimaces
at those who pass on the
ancient whitetail trail –
a curved and twisted nose
above a solitary frown,
two eyes, not quite level,
branches that grasp like arms.
 
The Tree With a Face guards
the old path between the forest
and the creek, casting
a shadow of a doubt
on meandering strangers
who do not understand
the ways of the forest
and what is at the end of a trail.

There are many trees in The Piney Woods that seem to peer at strangers.  Some are twisted, some are bent.  They have branches that seem to move when looking out of the corner of the eyes, but are frozen in mid-dance when they are seen with a full gaze -- like some company of folk artists in an ancient performance.