Another Root

first the careless

paving and expanding

of the old dirt road

to accommodate

the growth

of single family

houses then

the bitter trenching

for the fiber

optic

cables

parallel to

the long line

of witness trees

the water table

drops each year

by meters and

death quickly follows

there is no time now

in the global warming

with all they've seen with

all their whispering knowledge

for ancient souls to imagine

another deep sustaining root