Child of the Riven Oak

Child of the Riven Oak
By: Joylyn Ortiz

Acorn flung from split-heart tree, you
Burrowed in the humble ground,
Sorrow-watered, winter-covered,
Lonely, till at length you found
Spring dawn bright with wind and warmth.
It stirred your heart and burst your shell.
Green and brave you ventured forth,
Emerged from seed to reach and swell.
The light! The air! The sky above!
You saw and tasted day afresh.
Each new morning made you grow;
A leaf furled, tiny, veined in red.
You looked upon your parents' stump
And mourned the loss of shattered oak.
The limbs and twigs that gave you birth
No more stood tall or green with growth.
But roots lie, still, beneath the ground.
Their stump is virile yet, it seems.
With each new year, fresh shoots may grow.
New life, redemption, hope, and dreams.
Small tree, grow tall and reach toward sky.
Upward, leaves and tender shoots!
Taste the dew and greet the dawn as
Sorrow rains and feeds your roots.
You're not the same as when you fell.
Time transfigures and redeems.
Parent tree, no longer tall,
Left room for light to reach your leaves.
You couldn't prosper in the shade
Of riven tree so tall and broad,
So mercy brought it to the ground
And gave you room to reach for God.
Seasons change and forests fall.
Death gives way to wonders new.
Beauty lies within it all,
And hope lies here, in you.