Silent witness (In memory of the elm tree at Östra Kyrkogården), 2024
Stoneware clay, glaze of ashes from elm tree and consecrated ground
83x52x39cm

As you, above and below, silent witness,
had watched over the resting in the ground,
I sat quietly between them and watched you fall.
I thought that the earth remembered them. I thought that you could take the nourishment from the grieved, and pass it to your leaves and seeds.
Will you miss the screaming birds resting in your crown,
and the twisting worms nestled by your roots?
Will you miss the lovers hiding by your side,
the grieving mothers touching your skin for solace?
Rest now old tree, claim eternal life to which you were called,
and let me milk the ashes from your branches.
Let me set fire to the ground beneath you and turn it to stone.