Deeper roots

I see through your trellis self
You've shed your leaves,
Like aged men shed hair
and you are left undignified
Alone and chastised by the cold

Feeling ashamed for you
Only to realize after,
I feel ashamed for me
For your wrinkled bark mark lines of age
Hardened with wisdom

Each wintery harshness you endured

Has only left your furrowed visage to mask
The grimace formed by your mouth-
Where solstice birds sit and sing,

Is but a smile.