green ash tree branches extend
rooting into nine eternal realms,
life affirming rhizomes disturb soil
teething on golden doubloons
long buried…now siphoning air
like sea squirts collecting plankton
as marine snow falls from shallows
sinking into the deep-water chill.
Earth below its gnarled trunks
drops from a sheer cliff, creates
a shoreline cavern peppered
with mussels, cockles, clam shells,
& sand dollars—natural treasures
boxed in by a giant redwood log
tuber shadows blocking sunrays.