Pious tourists prowl around this caged, burnished tree
Too nearsighted to make out the mystically incised
initials of the Lady’s famous friends.
Barbed wire encloses the upper perimeter
dissuading the higher hooligan from ascending
to fame as quick as a penknife
while the stunning tree says the last word—
slowly annealing away AE / GBS / even WBY.
Arboreal oblivion casting a cold eye on vandals' vainglory.