In the Stillness

A poem

Sunshine and rain; a tree dressed in diamonds it didn’t buy nor ask for — if trees were people they’d be the most gentle and humble of us; unperturbed and unassuming they take what’s handed, the wind, the rain, the pruning, and still rise up, crowns high and feet firmly planted.

to be treelike; I think that’s my prayer — but is it really? I don’t know if I can bear the stillness.

my heart yearns for transition, movement and new beginnings; I guess trees know this well — but no one notices.

could I go unnoticed, or is that the issue? I always need something to prove. I want to show my fruit and know my labor is not in vain.

trees grow imperceptibly, it’s often hard to see my growth; forest is all around me, I am just one of many, and many have already touched the sky (so it seems).

but these diamonds, these drops of glistening sun that adorn this tree before me, were not asked for, were not worked for; this glory was simply given in the stillness.

© Micah Josiah, 2022

Author’s note: I was sitting on the balcony during a sun shower. After the rain stopped, my eyes were drawn to the tree in front of me. Its nodes and branches were sparkling like diamonds as the sun reflected off the raindrops that adorned it.