A Tree Comes Down

I wonder how it came to be
That sunlight found the forest floor
On this cold place amid the stones
Where there was only shade before

While not so very far away
A thick old tree lay on the earth
Where it had fallen in the storm
That caused my own unbidden dearth

How simple are the ways that turn
The browning litter of decay
Into a golden spectacle
Reflected in the early day

No matter that the seasons had
Continued their eternal round
As if no change would ever come
Upon this shadowed frigid ground

But there it was in front of me
A seedling carpet green and bright
With flower buds just pushing through
This emptiness up into light