The tree dreams in textures now. Bark has been replaced by memory. Weathered lines recall the touch of wind, the breath of moss, the quiet tension between collapse and stillness. This is not death, but the long, slow rehearsal for return — to soil, to silence, to something shapeless yet whole.

After the Bark

By Tony Eetak
The tree dreams in textures now. Bark has been replaced by memory. Weathered lines recall the touch of wind, the breath of moss, the quiet tension between collapse and stillness. This is not death, but the long, slow rehearsal for return — to soil, to silence, to something shapeless yet whole.

On Time, Erosion, and the Skeleton Beneath the Skin

There is a language in the slow decay of trees. What was once wrapped in bark, supple and protective, has now peeled away, exposing the bare memory of life beneath. Wind and time have carved their own narratives into the wood, whispering through every groove and splinter. These silent patterns are evidence of years endured — of storms weathered, of stillness accepted.

The exposed surface, once hidden, now holds a new kind of truth. Fibers twist like muscle memory, like veins of something long since gone. The barkless skeleton of the tree is not merely dead — it’s mid-transformation. Fungi may find root. Insects may burrow. Even in rot, there is complexity. Even in decline, there is texture — a fragile strength.

This piece invites the viewer to reflect on impermanence not as loss, but as evolution. In each contour and cavity, there’s an echo of what once was and a foreshadowing of what comes next. Time moves forward not by leaps, but by erosion — a slow peeling back of what once seemed solid.

Filed Under: SDG 13

This project was supported by:

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