Forest Thoughts

Elevated step count their holy grail,
passersby stroll forest path.
Excited trees wave their leaves.

Despite forest’s friendly gesture, no one
stops to introduce themselves, nor hears
trees whisper along fungal networks, warn

of drought and disease. No one pauses to ask
what jokes trees enjoy telling on good days,
like the one about the humans who think

they are in charge, who can’t smell
pheromones call elite wasp troopers
to repel enemy invasion of caterpillars

or emissions that warn neighbors of grazing
animals so they can season their leaves
with toxic bitter tannins.

Amused and bewildered, trees titter
at us as who imagine we’re self-made
sentinels in an empty field,

who never know we’re part of the forest
or (worse?) believe we alone are forest.
Yet the trees still beckon.

©2026 Kenneth W. Arthur