Friends are Branches

A Poem by Dalton Wagoner

I wrote this poem for the people that mean everything in the world to me.

I often think of myself as a tree
Beautiful, cherished, strong
I am the trunk of the tree
In the center of it all
And people can always point me out
because of one distinct feature

It is my friends that you know me for
My friends are my branches
They are what make me a tree
Without branches I am just a growing log
My branches are my life
My branches are my greatest achievement

I give them leaves to show the world
the many wonderful traits they possess
I grow them flowers to flaunt off the
beauty they have in my eyes
I transform the flowers to fruit
to prove their worth and usefulness

If a limb breaks off of my tree
I will deliver the nutrients to repair it
If a leaf is torn off or carried away
The limb will receive twice as many back
If the limb gets split down the middle
I will be there to meld it back together

But one day this old tree will get cut down
And in all the years you were my branch
I pray that you might have dropped a seed
A seed that makes you a big, strong tree
With plenty of room for amazing branches
just as special as you are to me