You hold vellum soaked through with storm rain
Ink bleeds dark where root systems remain
Firelight trembles on wet fiber veins
Ash settles soft like spore clouds on plains
Paper burns slow in the bonfire hollow
Letters curl tight like fern fiddleheads
Carbon returns to the soil profile
You read by the glow of dying embers
Rain hisses where droplets meet hot stone
Steam rises pale from saturated edges
Mycelium threads through charred margins
Decay feeds the next generation
Paper burns slow in the bonfire hollow
Letters curl tight like fern fiddleheads
Carbon returns to the soil profile
You read by the glow of dying embers
Xylem vessels once moved winter water
Now charred channels drink flame instead
Phloem sugars caramelize amber
Sweet chemistry written in soot script
Paper burns slow in the bonfire hollow
Letters curl tight like fern fiddleheads
Carbon returns to the soil profile
You read by the glow of dying embers
Germination needs stratification
Cold wet darkness before green emergence
This letter archives its destruction
Patience measured in geological time
Roots crack bedrock through persistent pressure
Spores travel continents on wind currents
Fire clears canopy for light hungry seedlings
You witness the cycle complete its circle
Morning finds only wet ash and mineral
Nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus remain
Next season's Quercus robur stirring
You pocket the knowledge like seed coats
Paper burns slow in the bonfire hollow
Letters curl tight like fern fiddleheads
Carbon returns to the soil profile
You read by the glow of dying embers
Ash enriches loam for next spring's growth
You walk on carrying living compost