roots

really big trees

connect to me

spiritually

you just look up at them and think

wow

this tree has been fighting

for decades

against all odds:

fire, hail, pollution, insects, animals, humans

and it has survived.

it was able to grow

and thrive

for longer than I have lived

times five.

and it will still do that

in the future

 

the other thing

about old trees

is their trunk.

you can spend hours and days

admiring a tree’s trunk,

how sturdy and strong it is;

the base of its life.

 

or the branches,

how they risk reaching out

away from the trunk’s protection to spread

towards the sky

and to shelter others.

 

or the leaves – such

fragile

little

green

parts

that are integral for

the tree’s survival

and despite the fact they fall off

every year, they

always

come back.

 

or the flowers

on some trees, and

how they extend above the earth

in a magnificent show

of color

and smell.

 

but the best part of trees are their

roots.

the roots are

invisible – only sometimes poking out

a little.

and they are stuck

under the earth

missing the sun and the wind

getting stepped on

and cut through.

 

but they are

the

most

important

part of a tree.

without the roots

the tree cannot stand

upright. It cannot

absorb nutrients or

expel waste.

 

the roots are home

to countless creatures

and are so vulnerable to attack

but they keep reaching down

and out

supporting the tree.

and the roots of a tree spread out

as far as the branches.

 

half of a tree.

the most important

half

stuck beneath sight,

but the tree

cannot

function without that half.

 

and people

are so similar to trees.

their public face:

leaves

trunk

branches

flowers

are very pretty.

or not.

and they take risks;

reaching out.

 

but then there is the

actual person:

feelings,

experiences,

whatever makes them

them.

all of that makes up their

roots.

 

sure, every once and a while

part peeks out

but mostly it remains hidden.

 

and all of that is

imperative

for the person to survive

(without the mind

and the soul

the body is just a shell)

 

but it is

sometimes stepped on

sometimes hurt

in its reach towards water and nutrients-

love and companionship-

and the tree

still

lives

on.

it survives.

and thrives

against all the odds.

 

it is a tree

it roots are just as

beautiful

as its stems.

 

it is a tree.

it is a human.

it is.

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