Poem of my Choice 3

The Steadfast Arbor

I live in a gnarled forest

A vast sea of old cedars and white pines

That rise as giants above the loftiest mountain peaks

And stretch like a sunrise far beyond the highest cloud

Yet I am firmly rooted to the ground

Where I cling tenaciously to the fecund earth

And to my distant past

When I was but a single seed

In that enveloping dirt

A dark and moist cocoon

Though I was sheltered

I was inexorably excluded from life’s pelf

Trapped in an ostensibly perfect world

Shut out from all else

Finally I burst out of my baby bubble

I emerged beside matted moss

Dancing dandelions

And myriads of mixed berries

Cranes and bald eagles hovered overhead

Like kites following the intricate patterns

Of a fierce and majestic wind

And though my vibrant imagination

And solemn desires

Rocketed to rivaling heights

My tenuous branches

And skeletal trunk

Barely lifted off the icy ground

Yet as each season

Transcended to the next

I ascended ever higher

And every year

Another ring embellished my inner core

Pine needles as sharp as the tip

Of a hummingbird’s beak

Sprouted here and there

Sweet sap exuded

From my porous sides

While I matured

So, too, did the wild woodland

Prolific animals have passed under

My cloak of dense foliage

Some have made a den

In my wooden womb

I watch upon the forest

As its protector

Its lungs

Its home for many

I breathe in the powder blue sky

And the dewy morning fog

That clings to my moist needles

I inhale the crisp sound

Of a sparrow’s caw

And the delightful smell

Of fresh rain on tall grass

Through many a season

I have grown and seen the world

Today I rise to even greater heights

Surrounded by the purity of nature

Katy Thompson

Block: 3

January 22, 2012