Mostly, the dead decay:
   they crumble
   or rot to goo.

But some trees
   turn steely
   hard & smooth --
 fibers showing like
   rigid sinews.

Bare of bark and leaves
   and flowers,
 but unyielding of
   girth and substance.

But even those trees
   give way --
 perhaps in geologic time
 rather than biologic time,

But still the tree will become
   someone & something else.