Verdun Tiers 1918

Dendrite growths in local limestone

Mimic battlefield's shattered oaks,

Shell-holes are catchalls of Red Zone;

Dendrite growths in local limestone

Recur within unnameable bones.

Soldier cups trace acorn--essence invokes--

Dendrite growths in local limestone

Mimic battlefield's shattered oaks.

Laura Stickney 2026

Notes--

Verdun--

The Battle of Verdun, 2-21-1916

to 12-18--1916 on Western Front

in France, was the longest and one

of the bloodiest battles in World War I.

Acorns collected from the devastated

forests of Verdun, France were brought

to the United Kingdom and planted as 

memorial trees across Britain. In 2016, 

surviving first generation trees were 

identified and their acorns, now saplings,

are being planted in a new memorial wood

in Surrey, England.

Dendrite--

Dendrite growths in limestone are branching,

tree-like patterns that form on rock surfaces.

They are pseudo fossils, the growths made of

manganese oxides that are black.

Dendrite growths also take place in bones,

in osteocytes--bone cells--and in grow tree-like

patterns.

Red Zone--

Areas of northeastern France so destroyed 

and contaminated during WWI that they 

were designated completely unrecoverable.

Thousands of artillery shells and other 

munitions remain under the surface. In

some areas of Verdun, the soil is so toxic 

that almost nothing can grow.