Uprooted

Plucked from familiar soil,

roots dripping dirt,

the tree waits.

The once underground root system,

as large as the fledgling tower above,

withers – naked and useless – in the wind.

Faltering in the transition,

future undetermined,

the tree still waits.

Then finds itself transplanted tenderly

and yet …

the familiar paths carved by life-seeking roots,

the unique composition of earth-water-air, and

the forest of neighboring trees

are gone.

But grateful for new ground,

the tree stretches out a tender tiny root hair

and grows

at the slow and steady speed of life.

And the solid trunk, reaching up, is testimony

of the soil where the seed was sown,

of all the worlds where it has grown,

and by its fruit the tree will be known.

(note: pictures taken in the greenbelt behind our house)