I hope I wasn't the only one who had to look up nematodes, lol! I knew it had something to do with nature, and now I know. I also initially, on my first quick read, totally neglected to associate it with a tree, and only thought of a small worm, and a metaphor for, unlike nematodes, not being able to adapt to new changes, new surroundings.

This line is one I keep coming back to:

"you lose
a tiny part of
a limb to the
wind."

- This fills me with such sadness. So, I'm imagining the perspective of a tree, being swayed by what's beyond our control. Wondering if it can adapt, accepting what's to come. And a metaphor of that, us as humans, losing parts of ourselves. Whole parts, small parts, physical parts, intangible parts.

In the next stanza, that sense of perhaps established peace is gone. There's only chaos, loud thoughts, rage, confusion, everything and nothing. It can't be quelled, whatever is inside.

"the munching sounds" made me squirm a bit. I almost found "munching" a bit funny, since I don't really hear that outside of someone maybe munching on their food obnoxiously haha. But instead of that breeze and gentleness of nature, there is a stiffness in the air, the crisp leaves reminders of decay.

And the last few lines, that reminder that there will soon be nothing left inside, or what's there will be decayed, is heartbreaking.

This also made me think of our insides consuming themselves, an ultimate form of self-destruction. Our sadness and anger and complicated emotions have no outlet, no fix, so they turn against each other, until there is no "healthy" spot remaining, no chance to rest and start anew.

But then, thinking of pines, and the reflection on their bark and needles to survive the cold, and how we isolate ourselves and maybe build a more sturdy shelter to simply get by.

This was so not what I was expecting, and I love it even more for that. Nice job!

Also, editing to say, because of this I looked up exotic tree nematodes that attack trees.... and the pine wilt nematode which causes pine wilt disease, where the needles wilt and the tree faces death. I had no idea. I am not great with regard to biology or botany or what this would encompass, so I found this quite interesting and that's why I had so many off takes on it probably :D

Interesting and at the same time, the short lines in each stanza packs a lot of feelings. The structure of the poem itself lookedto me a run down person/tree in this case. Nicely penned!

Congrats on the Win!

I really like this write star, beautifully written! Added to favourites :)