What Oak Says
       

I take the long view,
as First Cousins should
but seldom do.
A wind that is no longer summer
never dismays me
for I have discovered
the constancy of change.
Some people have no gift for growing old.
They are always children
looking back from another world.
The immature is complete in itself,
but the most entire acorn
is not a patch on me.
Age has its benefits.

I never forget that I owe everything
I have or am to that pale blind taproot
that splits the rock of the hillside
and holds me secure
against the fiercest wind.
My shape is designed
by the wind and the sun
but I am held steadfast
by that blind senseless worm at my base.
Time flows down the mountain like a river,
and I stand as witness.
The wise man consults trees,
elders of the tribe of the living.
I have always advised and helped
my human cousins,
payment of an unknown debt.

I tell them what I know.
Seek the sun and growth.
Light is an invitation to happiness.

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Copyright © 2019 Linda Rodriguez All rights reserved
from Dark Sister
Mammoth Publications
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission