"Unchopping a Tree" by W.S. Merwin | Poetry

After many winters the moss / finds the sawdust crushed

Bark chips and says old friend / old friend

Certain beauty you will notice at moments, in the pattern of the chips as they are fitted back into place."

Delicacy of this huge skeleton

Even in the best of circumstances it is a labor that will make you wish often that you had won the ...

Favor of the universe of ants, the empire of the mice, or at least a local tribe of squirrels..." 

"Grind nothing into the Ground."

Hollow in whole or in part, and contained old nests of bird or mammal or insect, or hoards of nuts or such structures as wasps or bees build for their survival, the contents will have to repaired..."

"If the fall was carefully and correctly planned, the chances of anything of the kind happening will have been reduced."

Nor any substitute for the leaf's living bond with its point of attachment and nourishment."

Originally published by W.S. Merwin in Poetry 

Practice, practice. Put your hope in that.

Reassembled panoply of leaves (now dead) will draw from you an involuntary gasp. p.21

Start with the leaves, the small twigs, and the nest that have been shaken, ripped, or broken off by the fall...

"These must be gathered and attached once again to their respective places. auty you will notice at moments, in the pattern of the chips as they are fitted back into place. It is not arduous work, unless major limbs have been smashed or mutilated."

 published 2014

" EVery motion of the tackle, eVery slightly upward heave of the trunk, the branches, their elaborately reassembled panoply of leaves (now dead) will draw from you an inVoluntary gasp. You will watch for a lead or a twig to be snapped off yet again." 

With spiders' webs you must simply do the best you can. We do not have the spider's weaving equipment... 

fiXative is applied. Again we have no duplicate of the original substance. Ours is eXtremely strong, but it is rigid. It is limited to surfaces, and there is no play in it. source

You must find our own way of coping with this problems. There is a certain beauty, you will notice at moments, in the patterns of the chips as they are fitted back into place. You will wonder to what extent it should be described as natural, to what extent man-made. It will lead you on to speculations about the parentage of beauty itself, to which you will return." source

"...Zeroing in on the insecurity at the heart of all art and craft. How can any human construct even begin to compare to Nature?" ~ Jeff Peachey, 2013.