Roots

Yay! I got unstuck on my story. Or at least I am now less stuck than I was. I didn't write anything worth keeping for almost a month, but today I wrote a page (single spaced) that I actually thought was worth keeping, so hopefully my brain is back. Of course, I don't have a name for whatever it is that I end up writing. I never can name stuff ahead of time. I wait to the end, read the WHOLE thing together and usually something will come up and beg to be the title.

Here's a poem that happened like that. My greenish-brown root-girl came into my brain and had the audacity to demand that I name it "Roots".

Fall comes
Leaves shake, fall
Most people are like that, after all
Deciduousness is a common trait
So don’t expect leave-people to stay and be brave
They were only meant to be for a season
To help you grow, to teach you reason
To give the world a moment’s shade
And then fall away
So if you hold them when the wind blows
They will break your heart, so
Let them go…

I climb, stretch from limb to limb
Feeling the smooth bark beneath my feet
But with a crack, that branch I thought so strong
Leaves me high and dry, stranded above ground
So don’t you ever put your weight
On a branch that will always bend and then break
For they are the people you think you can trust
But end up crumbling into dust
Without a regret, let them go
Let them be broken by the storm
While you stay in bed, nice and warm

I dig, to the bottom of my soul
In the moist brown earth where the roots grow
I see them, embedded in me, part of my life forever
The love, comfort, hope they provide
Would be enough to sustain me
Even should the Earth subside
I can trust them with my life
Without a hesitation, without fear
These are the people who love you—
No matter what
They are true friends

I wrote it sometime in January.