A Tree Grew From My Heart

A Tree Grew

A tree grew out of my heart

With roots entwined around my toes

Each year for seventy years it grew

Rings of varying width tell stories true

Years of small beginnings fragile and thin

Others of great growth and scars within

Good years of encouragement and strength

Branching out each season increasing in length

Showing beautiful new growth as new rings swell

Shedding the bark of last season’s junk

Reaching out each morning to the warmth of the sun

A tree grew out of my heart

And in the middle of winter it broke and shattered

Split right down the middle and some limbs scattered

Feeling like it would never recover

But bruises heal time recovers that broken heart

Growing ever stronger with each new season

Putting down roots drawing deeply from its source

Knowing spring will come once again one day

This is just another step adding beauty to its depth

A tree grew out of my heart

Through every season of my life

Creating nurturing nests for the young

Shading them from the heat of the sun

Weathering hurricane storms

And the fires of life

Only to come back again and again

And now I am here in the winter of my life

This oak that grew for the past seventy years

Revealing its colors in leaves of gold

Character comes out in flaming beauty

Knowing fall is here and winter is near

This tree that has grown out of the center of my heart

Provides a resource and life for generations that follow

Who knows what will be made of my wood

In the trees of their hearts both far and near

In the forest of the future they will carry on