I Am Not a Tree
I am not a tree,
I am a bird.
Don’t get me wrong,
I am devoted to the trees.
They are my sanctuary,
they are my home.
I used to think I was a tree.
Growing up all alone,
with only hard-rooted trunks digging into the ground around me.
Roots, thick and long,
run below the surface anchoring themselves permanently.
Sturdy and strong;
Immovable unless broken.
The day I realized the trees and I, were in fact,
not indistinguishable, my world was literally shaken.
A rumbling crack trembled beneath my feet
my home collided into the forest floor.
Everything I ever knew
crashing and splintering along with it.
Plummeting towards the bed of spikes below,
overwhelming fear seized my perception.
Free falling with no sense of control,
an imminent resolution loomed ahead:
Let my environment dictate whether I succeed,
or reflect and find security within me.
A sense of power coursed throughout my body,
throughout my entire being.
Weightlessness followed by euphoria
as I manipulated the air, propelling me towards the horizons.
Captivating views and experiences
blanketed the vast world ahead of me.
If my foundations had never been destroyed,
would I have ever discovered my true potential?
While I am not a tree,
the trees are my governesses.
I am a bird,
who is always welcome into the soft sage embrace of the trees.
But feathers such as mine are meant to be noted, never defined to one place or sheltered by shrubbery.
While I no longer lavish in the comforts of physical grounded stability,
I rejoice in the thrilling sensation of freedom the world projects beneath my wings.
-lh
