Like this Tree, I Reach for Light
A Poem
I am not a lion or tiger or wolf.
If I must compare myself to nature,
I will be a tree,
Tall and proud,
With roots that run deep into the soil
And branches that stretch into the sky.
Every scar on my skin
Speaks to the weathering of time
And the abuse of others
Who mistook my silence for license
To do as they pleased.
Yet I remain,
A survivor of many storms
Nourished by the light,
Unburdened by yesterday or tomorrow.
I am unique.
I am unlike my brothers and sisters,
And they are unlike me,
Yet we share the same serene purpose.
We offer you no fantasies of power or strength.
We give freely of our gifts:
Shade and protection,
And unrefined beauty sculpted by a Creator
Who knows what true beauty is:
free and unbounded,
Pursuing its own untamed course.
You can find it, too,
If you open your heart
As I open my hand.
