I paused while passing this old tree in the back of my grandfather's property the other day, momentarily transfixed by the appearance of malevolence in the form of a rotting limb. The decomposing wood, slowly eroding while much of the tree lives on, reminded me of the gaping mouth of some unnamed and bloodthirsty beast, complete with upturned incisors that seemed capable of ripping the flesh of unwary passersby.The more I stared, the more the tree seemed to forebode some menacing future, like some arboreal omen of doom, and the thought occurred to me that this was a life form that a person should never turn his back on. The ravenous jaw jutted out like a velociraptor with an underbite and a bad attitude, and I could almost feel the hairs on the back of neck stand up as I let my imagination wander for a moment about the unthinking savagery this monster tree might be capable of inflicting.
Oh, and a happy Easter to you, too. :-)
