Sister To Trees (Birthday Poem)

For NaPoWriMo – day 9

Card 17, Gallery 1

Sister To Trees  (Birthday Poem)

Traveler adds another ring
to her circumference.
Although, only a seed dropped
long ago, from beak of a hawk,
knows herself firmly rooted.
In past, put out tender tendrils
to hold her in place, ensuring
space for ever greening.

Soft bark to protect inner
realms from happenstance
of life lived one moment
at a time, breathed in deeply,
then expelled to make room
for more. Bent in high winds,
twisted to breaking point,
yet never truly broken.

Always extending reach
toward broader sky, making
friends with birds who sought
shelter in her tresses, learning
words of their songs, often
humming along, nodding head
to rhythms found in their wisdom.

Knows herself to be sister
to trees, surrounded by others
in a forest filled with colors
of different hue. Sucking up
whatever nurture from ground
and air around her. All of it
used to feed leaves that fill
her branches with life, seeds
of a fruit she names Poetry.

Elizabeth Crawford  4/9/11

Notes: Lucille Clifton used to write a birthday poem, every year. I admired that and although she is at the top of my list of favorite poets, I never felt the urge to follow suit. I did write one on my fiftieth birthday, mainly because it sort of fell out on the pages of my journal, and I felt compelled to finish it. You can find it here, on this blog, under the category At Fifty. I wrote another one when I turned sixty-one. That is posted at my other poetry blog which is titled the same as the Poem, Unraveling. It can be found here:
http://claudetteellinger.wordpress.com/   This image from the Soul Cards has long been one of my favorites and speaks to me deeply. I chose it for this poem because the poem has been dancing inside my head for a very long time. It was time. And birthdays must be celebrated in some fashion.

Soul Cards: both galleries can be seen by clicking on the image. They were created by Deborah Koff-Chapin, and her site is located here:  http://www.touchdrawing.com/