Personification of a Tree

by Brinly Teeple

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They planted my white seeds a decade and a half ago

in hopes of a strong evergreen to provide shade and sap and wood

Over these 16 years, my roots have grown deeper

As I have shot up and above the mossy dirt

My trunk is a gingerbread shade

So sweet you’d want to peel it off and eat it only to take a bite

And be reminded gingerbread always looks better than it tastes

And my needles are a crocodile green so sharp and fierce

You don’t touch them for fear they’ll snap at your hand

You might be able to see

I am missing a few branches

But pay that no mind

As they come with good stories

People have pushed me too far

Leaned on me a little too hard

Tried to collect too much amber sap

And I’ve snapped

The branches have fallen to that mossy dirt from which I sprouted

Now useless except to be stepped on

In order to provide that satisfying crunch

Though I have lost quite a few branches

And have a few scratches or patches of Carmel bare bark

I do still have my stories

If you sit beneath my prickly crocodile branches for long enough

And don’t try to collect sap

And don’t lean too hard

And don’t push

I will give you some of my amber sap

I will provide you with some blue shade

You will hear the grey stories of those black marks and fallen branches

If only you just give me time to remember.