Rise

In the spring mist of renewal when life bursts free And the gentle mother, patient in her earthly stillness offers a tree Jutting from the velvety lush ground spawning its sleepy dormancy The sweet summer stickiness of drooling kindling heat Nuzzles the budding sapling to adorn it in blanket of wheat As it pokes its head above this golden place thwarting its infancy Then the willful winds of autumn blow headstrong to havoc its home Urging tiny trunks to bend like the supple change within a poem Burdening youthful branches inciting its malleable vitality And bearing the tides of winters cold and frost No longer a seedling it peeks above the snow covered moss Raising itself like phantoms in the midst of vacancy So soon the seasons change a legion times more The song of Spring sings, the warmth of Summer adorns, The altruistic Autumn falls in peace and Winter hibernates its clarity In it ripened state of perfect persuasion full blown A Titan Tree has found its sacred mountain home As struggle has pledged its successor to its destiny The seasons of life bring us to the wisdom we learn and share The love of strife and the courage it bears Is the lesson of our hearts purity The Sapling is simply to be set free Released in its yearning and passion to "be" To cast its shadow over you and I immaculately July 9, 2019 Tri-Con Poetry Contest Sponsor: Emile Pinet