Staining Wood

The felled, flattened 
pines of old
reveal themselves to us.
Our brush serves
only to illumine
liquid swirls,
island knots afloat
in streams of color
curving 'round the edges.
Waves in the grain
rise, crest, collapse
before some unseen wind
breathing life
beneath the bark.

Scott Speck
09/03/2002