Pinus contorta

Retreat, retreat!
This gale will knock you clear off the cliffs
Wind laughing
Hoarse and sneering
At our meager stance

We are no match
For this catapulting air

Watch the shore pines dance
They are veterans of these salty blasts
Elastic arms search for drifts
Of stillness
Growing stronger
Into the beating wind
Contortionists
Spectacles
Living
Every moment
On
The edge