Thousands of spruce trees along the coast looked dieing
A parasite prevailed in a frostless year of El Nino
and scientists said that the next freeze would kill them
but another winter past without that and then another
The ocean view opened along the coastal highway
with denuded branches providing peek-a-boo horizon through
The spruce that formed the first front against the salt air
and the brutal winds of winter
Looked to be the victim of a forest fire that left no blackening

Would the ocean view from Hwy 101 be across a hillside of stumps
And what then for the all the life both green and footed
that had been sheltered
and what then would claim the ground where spruce had held strong

But slowly the spruce grew a few vital needles of green
survival of the vanguard of the rugged edge of the world
and the branches that once hung draped gracefully, heavy with foliage
and then as scarecrow sticks into the sunset
once again show healing strength and vital life