.
Born of dirt and decay
Unfurling upward, new life
Fragile sapling emerges
Nurtured by water, sunlight

Dining on nutrients
In a loamy bed
Growing ever stronger
For the years ahead

Roots sinking downward
Grappling Earth's bones
Nature's perennial child
Against the wind, take hold

Branches spread wide
Trunk growing tall
Reaching for the sun
Spring through Fall

Slumbering giant
Of Winter's landscape
Naked for a season
'til you next awake

Sprouting new growth
Broad leafy canopy made
Flora, fowl and fauna
Flourish in your shade

Serendipitous shepherd
Ecosystems abound
Coursing through foliage
Down to the ground

Life rings compound
Decades disappear
Internal chronometer
Ticks off another year

Eventual termination
Facilitated by
Blight, storm or fire
It's never goodbye

Return to the soil
Which provides incubation
Slow decaying food
For the next generation