Fig

#metaphormonday

What it is to be a tree:
to take root in the ground,
to know a place
by persisting in it,
to be at the mercy 
of the weather at all times:
the summer sun, 
the driving rain,
to take it in
and make something of it.

What it is to be a tree:
this tree, here,
on this limestone ridge
near the ocean,
shedding yellow leaves
as djeran rain finally comes;
this tree, not native,
but somehow
becoming the place
by persisting in it,
leaf becoming soil
soil becoming leaf.

What it is to be a tree:
to take
all that comes
and make it fruit:
the sweetest ball of self:
honey of the sun,
seed of rain and air 
and limestone grit,
to offer it 
without flinching
to hands that pluck,
to mouths,
to passing birds.