I gaze with sad and lonely eyes
at the tree there all alone.
My mind drifts back to times gone by
remembering how it's grown.
A haven for the sun baked soul,
comfort in its shade.
In the safety of the higher boughs,
homes the birds have made.
The winds of time do take their toll,
the weather sometimes too.
A careless child intent on fun
tore down a branch or two.
Small injuries it has traveled past
some larger ones as well,
But the damage from the latest blow
has caused at last the fall.
Where once it stood so straight and tall
its branches reaching out,
Now its trunk is split in two
and twigs are strewn about.
I stand looking at the battered tree
its roots had run so deep.
The broken boughs, the shattered trunk
I stand, I gaze, I weep.
written by Valerie
7/14/00
