The Bright, Green Tree
The bright, green tree
Stands alone and
Tells me
"It was a story of four,
A process of losing me
And my leaves."
The tree starts,
"I wasn't alone,
I had two other trees.
One with fiery orange leaves
And the other one with bright purple leaves.
I very much liked my orange friend
But alas!
I unintentionally pushed it away
And spent more time with the purple tree.
I'm a weak tree
For, you see,
I don't remember clearly
Things from my past.
But the irony is
I couldn't shed my leaves
When winter came.
So, not remembering the deeds
I had done,
I tried to come closer to my orange friend,
But I was shocked to see
How it abandoned me
When I came.
So shed my leaves I wanted to,
But I couldn't.
For I was evergreen,
And my leaves were never to shed.
So I held my burden
And waited for the summer
As I would get a lot sunshine
To grow.
But all I got was my favourite
Rain
In the most painful way
Ever.
The rain was created from my orange friend
Whose rain contained burning flames
And I screamed in pain
And just begged
Please,
Please, just let me shed.
But of course
It was impossible.
I was reminded once again
I was evergreen.
At that time, my purple friend
Was sent to me as a blessing
And mended the roots that
Connected me
To the orange tree.
As winter arrived again,
And everyone started to shed,
I noticed a small tree
Rapidly growing beside my orange friend.
The now medium sized tree had
Colour changing leaves
And could control other trees.
As the seasons changed
My purple friend went missing
And I realised,
The shield around me had vanished
Which exposed to me
To, surprisingly,
A familiar type of rain
That I felt a year ago.
But this time, the orange tree
Was being controlled by
The colour changing one."
The tree gives me a sad smile and continues,
"I wish I could say that
At that moment,
I escaped the rain,
The trees
And my pain.
But that would be a lie.
For my roots were stronger than me
And chained me down
On the ground.
So I took all the pain.
But when I couldn't anymore,
For the first time,
I shed.
I felt the chains loosening.
I was desperately wanting to escape.
But if I did
The roots that connected me
To the orange tree
Would tear apart.
And I didn't want that.
So I stayed and grew all my leaves back.
The long awaited autumn came
And brought my missing purple friend
But it was a much softer colour - lavender.
It looked much older and wiser.
But in return of my long lost friend
I had to lose my orange friend.
But before it was too late,
I talked to it
And told it about how deeply I thought
Of our friendship.
And it just ignored my words
And kept changing the subject
Telling me I was close to it
But never had that special place
That it had to me.
I, in denial, secluded myself
And gave myself time to shed
And release the pain, the burden
And the memories along with my leaves.
When the dawn broke I could see
New leaves and scars all over me.
I felt empty
But
Stronger to have let go."
The tree finally stops.
But something tells me
There's more that it seems.
I go to the back of the tree and see
Black and dry leaves
That are constantly shedding.
These leaves are neither pain nor memories.
They're what kept the tree sane.
I ask the tree, "Are the black leaves yours
Or the green ones?"
The tree smiles, "You already know."
And I do.
As the tree fades
I recall my perfect smile
That spreads greenery
And the scars on my wrists
And my dark, black memories and
Empty heart.
I know the answer.
I've known it all along.
I guess,
I had forgotten myself,
And that bright, green tree within me.
Word count: 685
