Entanglements

These limbs so entangled

angular forms, mottled and gray

linked together in their quiet, brittle solitude

their leafless beauty still comes alive

against the violent sways of winds pushing

breath that comes in cracks and crackles

like moans whispered at the slightest touch

These limbs so entangled

peeling frames of bodies offered and taken

once alive with vivid and vibrant growth

now jagged starkness

slowly dying in the sun’s mocking light

chosen as watchful sentries

for the rhythm of life persistent

These limbs so entangled

still reach out from bodies gray and bony

strength running deeply through dry veins

the voids between branches so close to despair

remind us of green youth

long left behind.