The windows darken,
a few scholars
lean forward,
their chins in their palms.
Someone shifts
weight in a chair
and there is a loud crack
throughout the hall.
I remember film footage
of some worker
hollowing out
the base of a redwood
for some legal
or illegal
logging operation.
I waited for something
horrible,
more than what
was already happening
to the tree.
A rockslide occurred
revealing a natural portrait
of Christ
in the bedrock.
Another image
appeared in a treestump
from a tree
that had been growing
from a grave.
The scholars pause,
turn their pages.
They look at the clock.
Evening. Same day.