The Beeches

The days I studied every tree I knew them more by reputation than by their name or occupation, the job their wood is used to fill. Now time has taught that beech are best as homes for squirrels or signs to mark a boy's way home as woods grow dark. The old trees die from inside out and form a hollow hulk to warm the lives they house. The wood that's lost the beetles take, and birds in turn. And so their use for boards and beams is limited, except the few the loggers take for pulp and crates. The giants are scarred by woodpecker work and where I carved essential facts in jackknife script so long ago. For beeches were best for dates and hearts that carry me back on woodland walks and prove the marks the beeches made on me were deeper yet than those I went to see.