for the people of Truro, Autumn 2022

A certain Nova Scotia cemetery
withstood a certain hurricane;
not a hillside tree was harmed,
only the odd limb or two
scattered among the honouring stones.

If I dare to guess
all the tries the wind
felt were worth it
proved successful elsewhere.

But not here, strengthened
by their years of living
the local unforgettable dead
had ahold of each and every root.

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Painting: "Shadows, Spuyten Duyvil Hill" by Ernest Lawson