Bristlecone Pines Succumb to Beetles

Even in the dream world of Genesis,
Methuselah did, eventually, die.
But you had to go and name a pine tree
Methuselah, didn’t you? Now you’ll grieve.

Well, you would have grieved something, anyway.
In a way you yourselves are the beetles,
Although you’re all linked together more like
A warring handful of ant colonies

With tens, hundreds, and thousands of millions
Of selves hooked into every colony, and worse,
Multiple, overlapping memberships
In colonies simultaneously.

But these are all your metaphors. The pines
Have none and no fossil records. They’re yours.