Father Fagus Grandifolia, silver grey with
muscled shoulders
fingers traced across the soil like
a hawk’s nest suturing the slope.

Beech tattoos give proof to Jake and Sue that they
were, indeed, in love
in 1962. Proof that Peter mattered and
that Harlon was, in fact, here.

Slow growth in acid earth, with polished nut.
Sweet scent a dozen decades old
still luring pilgrim children
to the woods, knives drawn.

Ned Kraft, a librarian by trade, has published satire, poetry, and short stories in such places as Phoebe, Against the Grain, Grimoire, The Pennsylvania Literary Journal, and the South Street Star.