Lumberjack

You are ringed
like a tree.
I don't want to cut you down,
 don't make me have to cut you down,
to find out
to see your heart
to dig up your roots
and discover you're not a tree
and I've lost you.

She cut him down
to prove he was a tree.
She broke his heart in two,
to show it was there,
beating,
for all to see.
She pulled back the bark
to display the lack of bite.
Snapping branches as she went,
she pulled off all his limbs.
To say he made no sound
would not be true at all,
for though no one was around,
you could hear his pride fall.
Nettles scattered to the wind,
love notes gone for good.
Sticky sap stuck to pine,
kicked against the wood.