Whenever you see a tree

This is a concrete poem, also called a shape poem. In this type of poem, the words form a shape related to the poem’s topic.

Think 

how many long years 

this tree waited as a seed 

for an animal or bird or wind or rain 

to maybe carry it to maybe the right spot 

where again it waited months for seasons to change 

until time and temperature were fine enough to coax it 

to swell and burst its hard shell so it could send slender roots 

to clutch at grains of soil and let tender shoots reach toward the sun 

Think how many decades or centuries it thickened and climbed and grew 

taller and deeper never knowing if it would find enough water or light 

or when conditions would be right so it could keep on spreading leaves 

adding blossoms and dancing 

Next time 

you see 

a tree 

think 

how 

much 

hope

it holds