The Tree

I am a tree,
With my roots
Deep into the earth.
Feeding from all that has lived
In the past of my family.
I feed from the lives of others,
Who have left, sinking into the earth,
The leaves of their creations
And their endeavours.
Up from the deep darkness
Of the unknown
I draw my sustenance.

So many bodies have been formed,
So many words engraved,
So much love and war,
Buildings shaped and crumbled,
For me to draw on in my sap.
These are the rich soil,
The rich souls,
For my boughs and leaves
To draw on in their forming.

And on my leaves
The sunshine
Of the unformed,
The as yet to be.
I draw it in to mingle
With what already lived –
And died.
And in that mingling
I can sense fruition.

Innate in me,
As in every tree,
The blossoming and seed –
The passion and the flowering.
And this I give to you,
As all those beings at my roots,
So gave to me –
Their leaves,
Their seeds,
My life.

Copyright ©2003 Tony Crisp

Photo From Toyota zero emissions advert