Wood
The yellow grain encircles
A center once alive
We live within the branches
Milled to modern size
Once just small new seedlings
Placed among the weeds
Now the walls of cities
Cities from the seeds

Stone
Blocks with ragged edges
Rough planes of creviced edge
From the earth dismembered
Deep within earth's bed.
Even when they crumble
In years or months or days
The earth is still left hardened
Only stone remains.

Steel
This is man's creation
Melted, mixed, and cooled
Defying laws of physics
for cantilevered roofs.
And yet, where do the metals come from
The earth, yes, yet again
We've mixed with glowing fire
To emerge from in the land.