The Tree

From humble beginnings your life sprouted with the tears of the sky
As you grew watching the seasons pass and fade, to the gradual rhythm of life
Your twisted limbs always reached toward the heavens,
In the silent steadfastness of your stoic life you observed the changes around you

I wonder do you convey your thoughts to kindred spirits?
Or are we to busy to listen in passing

As the breeze rustles the leaves of your beauty
You ride this current of air to the slow sway of your heart
And in the depths of your earthen home, where your roots took hold,
Your modest repast nourishes this quiet existence

And upon your uneven skin marks the tales of your life
A carving of letters where two lovers entwined under the shade of your foliage,
The darkened bark when you were beset and burned by fire,
And the various pockets where a woodpecker placed his meal

But it's more your sweeping grandeur that encompasses the swath of sky
As I behold your sturdy trunk, a testament of your endurance
You have survived Wind, Rain, Sleet and Snow,
And the lean years of drought when your thirst could not be quenched
Yes you survived all of this, only to be confronted by the insatiable lust of man
Who only knows that you're only in the way, an obstruction of progress,
Whose appetite can never be fulfilled.

And who will remember your legacy when you're gone?
You, who have given of yourself to all whom, have encountered your presence
Be it the relief of a hot summer's day, or a home in spring,
Where the nests built in your arms, have launched a new generation of winged fellows

I stand and gaze at you with profound respect,
Because in your soul I see great meanings of life
For in your steady endurance, against many odds you have survived
A lesson that I feel a comfort,
And a deep blessing.