THE TREE

                                                 Isaac Warden Lewis

 

From the seed buried in the soil,

there appeared a timid, little plant,

which, receiving water and solar rays,

grew and invigorated itself as time passed.

After having lived its infancy and its youth,

it became an adult tree, strong and leafy,

bearing fruits for a long time.

 

As time passed by, the tree stopped to develop itself.

Its leaves stopped to renew themselves

and, sooon, it stopped bearing fruits.

The tree, then, lived quietly at the mercy of the Wind and the Time.

The branches became weak and, now and then, they fell.

And so, the tree went on shedding its leaves and lopping itself.

 

The tree, however, remained standing

and, about it, there were, now, other plants

that were born from the seeds of its fruits.

The mother-tree that, little by little, was desappearing

                             /from the scenery of life,

left the earth full of daughter-trees and granddaughter-trees,

that, in its turn, would recycle life on Earth.