<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div data-v-197036e9="" class="card-body" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-box-flex: 1; flex: 1 1 auto; padding: 1.25rem; line-height: 1.5; color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;"><div data-v-197036e9="" class="px-md-4 font-serif poem__body" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-right: 0.5rem !important; padding-left: 0.5rem !important;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class="">Faithful Forest</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class=""><br class=""></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class="">1.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class=""><em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">I will wait</em>, said wood, and it did.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Ten years, a hundred, a thousand, a million—</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class="">It did not matter. Time was not its measure,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Not its keeper, nor its master.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class="">Wood was <em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">trees</em> in those first days.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">And when wood sang, it was <em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">leaves</em>,</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class="">Which took flight and became birds.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class=""><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">2.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class="">It is still forest here, the forest of<em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class=""> used-to-be</em>.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Its trees are the trees of memory.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class="">Their branches—so many tongues, so many hands—<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">They still speak a story to those who will listen.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class="">By only looking without listening, you will not hear the trees.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">You will see only hard stone and flattened landscape,</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class="">But if you’re quiet, you will hear it.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class=""><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">3.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class="">The leaves liked the wind, and went with it.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">The trees grew more leaves, but wind took them all.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class="">And then the bare trees were <em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">branches</em>, which in their frenzy<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Made people think of so many ideas—</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class="">Branches were lines on the paper of sky,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Drawing shapes on the shifting clouds</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class="">Until everyone agreed that they saw horses.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class=""><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">4.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class="">Wood was also the keeper of fires.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">So many people lived from what wood gave them.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class="">The cousins of wood went so many places<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Until almost nobody was left—that is the way</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class="">Of so many families. But wood was steadfast<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Even though it was hard from loneliness. Still,</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class=""><em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">I will wait</em>, said wood, and it did.</p><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class=""> </div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- Alberto R</span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">í</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">os</span></div></div></div></div></body></html>