Trees

12.15.17 *See notes

Trees

 

"Be as unmovable as an oak,

 grow many different ways.

 Spread your leaves and calmly soak beneath the golden rays."

 

But there's a lot of wind out there,

and I am pretty young,

with wounds and knicks and droopy sticks where pretty leaves once hung.

 

The name like "Oak", I cannot keep.

I don't stand tall.

My roots aren't deep; one gust could make me fall.

 

These thoughts are known only to me

to whisper in my pillow

"Perhaps I could still be a tree, I'm just a weeping willow."

 

~a.s.

Author's Note

The phrase “stand as tall as a tree”, “spread your roots deep”, and “be unmovable”, have always bothered me. Though advice given with good intent, it is not always easy for somebody in an unstable place to try for. This is a secret little truth for those out there being blown around by the struggle—you are still strong, just in your own way.