I’ve been on this Earth for many years now,
Long enough to witness the different stages of life, multiple times.
The one I’m perpetually drawn to is childhood.
The innocence of a child is unlike any other
Because they pick and climb and run and scream
All without a single worry about what tomorrow brings.
Always running.
Always climbing.
Always wondering.
Always growing.
It doesn’t matter the time, the decade, or the season,
I’ve discovered one constant truth-
That children need movement and play and risk.
They are drawn to me for that exact reason.
The constant I am in their lives,
And have been in the past for others,
And will continue to be in the future
To those that wander in.
For I am the apple tree
That has nourished bellies
And held strong for endless climbing.
My leaves provide them with shade
And my branches hold them sublimely.
As the years go on,
As children grow,
I know they will lose interest with time.
But I worry not.
The next generation will come
And pick and climb and run and scream.
All without a single worry about what tomorrow brings.
For there is a gravitational pull that an apple tree yields.
Risk and reward.
Peace and tranquility.
Havoc and uncertainty.
We truly were created for one another,
The child and the apple tree.
Photo by Zen Chung