We are like a tree
Both came into this world
As a green sapling
So innocent and fragile
So easily bent by
Harsh winds or cruel hands
Yet both never quite broke

Give it time. Look again—
See the solid trunk
Supporting strong limbs
The roots firmly entrenched
In the familiar soil
Her beauty is
Finally uncovered

The danger isn’t gone—
New forces will come,
Unremitting, merciless
Yet the tree,
Clad in her new armor,
Will not surrender
Because she cannot be broken






See now her battle scars—
The rot of age
The marks of fellow creatures
The burns of raging flames
The breath of winter
Whose icy blast
Rendered her comatose.

Do not look away
For she is not dead!
She awakes at
Sunlight’s warm embrace
And rain’s cool touch
Changed, and perhaps
More beautiful now.

Year after year,
She is reborn
No matter what
Last season brought with it
Her appearance may not be clean and new
But she is still loved.

Learn from her—
Every obstacle
Can be overcome
Our wounds will heal
Because something makes us
Beautiful again
We are never broken.