The Tree

The leaves in the old tree blow gently in the breeze,
As the clouds roam overhead and shadow us below,
The limbs bend gracefully as the hot sun peaks through,
The old tree has many stories to tell as its age begins to show.

A young boy runs and gallops as he sees the swing sway,
The grey squirrels hear him coming and wave their tails in style,
Birds flutter through the mighty limbs as they escape,
But the boy gives little attention as he runs with a smile.

The tree doesn’t mind the weight of the boy as he flies through the air,
He has seen many years of children enjoying the shade for play,
And then as the years went by the old tree saw each child as they grew,
Only to return home with books for study as under the tree they lay.

Time has taken its toll on the tree as the limbs and trunk show age,
The old tree doesn’t realize a difference inside was well under way,
For a tree’s heart doesn’t lie in the center but rather in the shell,
So it cannot know when things are changing at the end of the day.

Then one day he felt it, a limb was too heavy to stay in place,
This has not happened before. Only wind could do such a thing.
It was frightening for the old tree to feel that change was about to come,
He couldn’t bear the thought of not being there to hold the rope swing.

But time changes everything and life proceeds without slowing,
The day for the tree’s journey was just beyond the setting sun,
He had enough time to bid farewell to the squirrels and friends,
But not seeing the children made him feel more work needed done.

Today a huge and mighty stump marks the place where the tree stood,
It is a memorial to the animals and children who sought sanctuary there,
If you sit and listen the stump has a story to tell for each visitor,
So sit a moment, hear the story, remember the tree and the love it did bare.