Your body tilted
Your leaves wilted
Your energy royal,
your friendship loyal.
But you are discouraged and tired
of being sparingly admired.
Your head bends steadily towards the water,
The by-standers do not seem to bother
to listen to the stories you can reveal,
Allowing the history and your presence to heal
the wounds one carries in her mind;
You seem exhausted yet humbly kind.
Welcoming strangers with a warm embrace
Your wrinkled skin and a weather-beaten face
contrasts with a jovial and mischievous grace
of the young branches so naive but stable…
How much you must be grateful -
for these smooth slender arms,
With your inner protection nothing harms.
Anon.