Happy To Be

A tree is happy to be a tree
it knows no other way to be
no comparisons no complexities
just simple acceptance of being
as the seasons come and go
time moves the winds and rains
but still the tree is happy just to be
nothing to learn and nothing to prove
a fixture of stability burst forth from seed
that was cast so long ago

A nest is home to the growing chicks
who know no other way to be
high up in the branches cradled and safe
away from predatory eyes and jaws
accepting the worms that magically appear
until nature urges, ‘it is time to set you free’
teetering on the edge of the nest
with a gentle push they fall
instinct takes flight to carry them far
from the tree that is happy just to be

The years go by and cycle through change
as branches stretch and grow
roots spread wide and deeply furrow
the trunk a thickening girth
as leaves create the changing palettes
that dance in rhyme with the seasons
no time is measured nor goals are set
no place for anxiety either
as nature is the ruling force
and the tree is happy just to be

With no escape from nature’s final act
life within the tree now begins to fade
the branches stop advancing
and the leaves no longer unfurl
but instead a strange awakening
as a thought now captures the soul
“although this time I was happy
to be grounded and fixed in one place
next time a body with wings I will choose
to experience, what it is, to be free“

© Cheryl Mary Coleman, 2018 – Expression #219 – 25.8.18 

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