The Day a Redwood Falls Reprint

So when I was in California I got the chance to reconnect with some very old friends!

THE DAY A REDWOOD FALLS

Dawn breaks today as it would on any other,
Flowers bloom, trees sway brushing one another,
Birds sing sweetly in the great tree's shade,
Dappled water glimmers, flowing through the glade.

Suddenly, the air is split with an angry, rumbling roar,
as if all of hell is tearing at earth's door,
The moist and tender earth beneath the tree,
is rent and wrestled, like a madly rolling sea.

The great tree shivers, gasping for breath,
It's massive branches falling, reaching out in death,
Toppling like a toothpick falling on a table,
The birds fly away as fast as they are able.

The crash, when it comes, shakes the earth for miles around,
The forest is filled with nothing but sound,
And then there’s a silence that's almost as loud,
As the cacophony that came before, a gunshot in a crowd.

And there it lays, alone, that once majestic tree,
Dust billows, and falls, silently,
Though it dies, a new ray of light finds it's way
To the seedling at it's feet and a brand new day.

Then there were some friends I'm glad I didn't meet up with!