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Friday, December 4, 2020

OLD TREE



Like an old tree,
I survived storm and drought,
the clipping and bending
and breaking
of my boughs.
I learned to stand steady
as winds of change
howled through my limbs;
thrust my roots down deep,
braced myself against
the slipping sands
under my feet.

Like an old tree,
I have endured,
weary of my labours,
branches drooping,
bark chipped and pocked,
the foreboding 
of an early frost
nipping at my toes.

I send messages
of encouragement
to young sprouts
popping up,
jostling me,
their growth encroaching
on my space,
as has been the grand design
through all of time.

They will carry my legacy,
my teachings, my dreams,
into tomorrow,
replacing my songs
with their own,
spreading their arms wide,
expanding in the sun,
all the while 
time
is bending me
slowly
into the earth.



An oldie from 2018 to be shared with earthweal's open link #47. Wow! Soon we will be one year old! And what a year it has been.   When I wrote this poem, the prompt was: what do I think of myself? I think: I am a tired old tree. I think: I have risen above my raising, yet been less than what I might have been. We do our best. It is all we can do. Today I walked a wild beach. The waves were breathtaking. I am bemused by the wonder of being back here - this place I missed every day of the seventeen years I was away. Gifts.

6 comments:

  1. I’m enjoying the trees this weekend, Sherry that Brendan, you and I have focused on. Happy to be an older tree, I have been watching the ones in my garden, standing steady although almost naked in the snow. I love your extended simile so much!

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  2. This is so beautiful and philosophical. There is no bitterness or even too much sadness. I felt a chill at the 'the 'foreboding
    of an early frost
    nipping at my toes.'
    but my heart was warmed by your description of living life on life's terms - beautiful ��

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  3. You definitely have endured and encouraged, Sherry! You ARE a good teacher!

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  4. Yes you have done well and no one presented it to you on a silver tray...give yourself a pat on the back and buy yourself a whiskey and coke from me (cheers)...Living near the beach is like winning the lottery...you deserve it...Hang in there
    From
    one old tree to another old tree

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  5. your deep roots nourish us, Sherry ~

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  6. Like an old tree ... you are perfection.

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