Growth Rings
We've all seen how some trees manifest their growth spurts,
By shedding their bark, molting their dead skin,
Making room for newer, more capacious layers of protective flesh.
But I've often wondered what might happen
Were trees, at some point, to grow thinner and thinner, instead,
Their trunks and limbs continuing to diminish, in diameter.
Is it possible that, were trees able to accomplish such a reversal,
They might experience, yearly, old layers of epidermis returning?
And if so, what might they convey about the nature of aging?
12/04/09
|