Long the Appalachian Trail,
You’ll find an indistinct marker,
At 5826’,
Up in the sky,
Where rhododendrons thrive,
The post there
For the marker,
Is a lone Roan Chestnut stick,
Many just pass it by,
It’ll be there years,
‘pon years,
Even after you die.
You see the American Chestnut,
Castania dentata,
Just refuses,
Refuses to rot.
Like us not.
So the sign there,
Ain’t the first,
Tacked tu that there old post.
Won’t be the last.
Signs rot,
Chestnut posts don’t.
That there post old,
Aged and greyed,
Might’s-well be a ghost,
Tit’ll be there
when we’re in our grave.
Like it or not.
Tom Tenbrunsel
Carl Sandburg Writer 2023