Meristem

Trampling grazers kill seedling trees
But not grasses. Grasslands cover
About a third of land on Earth.

Eighty billion land animals
Are raised for food annually
For eight billion humans to eat.

Everything dies but things linger.
Conflicts can drag on for lifetimes.
Social change can take centuries.

That stone on the lip of the cliff
Could hang there for a thousand years,
Although there’s no doubt it will fall.