The Maple Tree

Spiralling up into the heavenly clouds 

Coloured with the life of birds and plants

King of the forest

Reaching down with arms gnarled and knotted

Growing with life until I reach reality

Standing strong like a soldier

My trunk supports the beauty of a thousand years

Arms stretched out into infinite directions

Evoking happiness and flourishing with flora

Ginger leaves tinted with gold

All the hues shimmering in the radiant sunlight

Birds fluttering in the silent breeze

How their songs echo endlessly through the trees

Summer, spring and autumn I’m alive

But when it’s winter, I start to die

Year by year, I start to wither

I finally accept my fate, ascending to the ether

I have lived long

Since I was a sapling and first said ‘Hi’

But now it is time to go, and say my final ‘Goodbye’