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What kind of metaphor is "trees in the wind"?

I saw God in the Forest

Teachin' Tai Chi

To the trees in the wind

Bowing to the sea

Excerpt from http://www.bensollee.com/panning-for-gold

What I find odd is that the reference is "trees in the wind" and not just a word and the referee is not obvious, because it doesn't seem to be comparing it to anything and the intended can be just "trees moving with the wind" instead of "tree in the wind" as if the trees are flying in the wind. What's the intended effect and what kind of metaphor is this if it indeed is a metaphor? I am talking about "trees in the wind" specifically and not "teachin' Tai Chi to the trees in the wind".

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It's Personification.

While it is a type of metaphor, this is called personification. The intent here is simply to describe the random movement of the tree branches with a sense of purpose. Although "God" is mentioned as the teacher, the poem is not describing something holy or religious, rather the slow, intentional martial arts motions of Tai Chi.

From the link:

Personification is not merely a decorative device, but serves the purpose of giving deeper meanings to literary texts. It adds vividness to expressions, as we always look at the world from a human perspective. Writers and poets rely on personification to bring inanimate things to life, so that their nature and actions are understood in a better way. Because it is easier for us to relate to something that is human, or which possesses human traits...

"Trees in the wind" specifically is not a metaphor, it's just a figure of speech or an idiom.

wetcircuit
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More explicitly stated, the metaphor is that the trees move to and fro in the wind because God (using the wind) is teaching them Tai Chi.

The imagery is the trees of the forest moving in unison like we see a group of people in the park move in unison when being led in a Tai Chi class. God is the instructor leading the trees.

Amadeus
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Actually you need to look at that phrase in the context of the whole poem. From God's repeated statement that He has forgotten where he put things it becomes clear that God has lost His people and forgotten who they are. Instead of to men, He is speaking to nature.

So the trees aren't a metaphor, but in fact they are just trees. They bow to the sea in the same way that men used to bow to God, but the trees just bow before the wind, without any meaning or intent.