Gentle gusts of wind swirl around me,

Softly caressing my skin.

Autumn leaves danced elegantly around the base of my trunk,

They had faded to a rusty red.

I am young,

With hundreds of years ahead of me.

I had nothing to do but sway to and fro,

And watch the unstopping world move around me.

No acknowledgement,

I am simply part of nature.


There was a girl,

A young girl,

Long sandy blonde curls whipping around her face.

She sat at the bench tossing her lunch at the ducks,

The sadness in her eyes reflected on me.

The ducks were her only company,


Years dragged on,

The world was set in fast motion.

People change,

But trees don’t.

Nor do little girls,

She was hunched over and frail,

Her young beauty had faded under her soft withered skin.

But the big curious eyes she had possessed as a child,

Would still gaze at me in wonder.

She threw her bread towards the pond,

Even though no ducks were there.

She was lonely,

But only for a moment.


She beamed weakly at the sky,

She gasped.

And the eyes that had always looked at me in amazement,

Turned vacant.

I shielded her with my branches,

Shielded her from the world that never had had enough time for her.


I waited,

For the next fifty years.

I waited,

I watched, as the young grew old.

The old die,

I waited.

I kept waiting till I could see the young girl again,