Arboretum

Today is the perfect day
to visit the arboretum
Breezes rustling through the leaves
birds nesting and fledging
from branches of my idea trees

Some trees sprouted with ease
others have languished for years
each stage of growth and decay invaluable to the whole
each season serving it’s purpose
each tree vital to the collective

All interconnected through the roots
a vast mycelium network underground
communicates from tree to tree to tree
while above ground the birds, bees and breeze
cross pollinate and foster one another

Acorns planted by a forgetful squirrel
Seeds dropped by a bird passing overhead
Cuttings propagated carefully by hand
Grafts, the marriage making two into one
Each method doing what it can

The cycle never starts or stops
Idea seeds from the mother tree
eventually become nurse logs
feeding new germinations and generations
“Failure” simply means compost

though I devote myself to their care
my trees are not mine alone
each takes on a life of it’s own
From seed to sapling to mighty giants
this cultivated plot remains a wild ecosystem