Growing

A seed was planted
And in its place stands a mighty sequoia
That all see and are awed
Few, if any, remember
The fragile, vulnerable seed
That could have been an easy target
In the unforgiving wild
Or the tender seedling
That could have met its end
At its beginning
After a confrontation with the elements.

I look around and see
Giants whose prowess
Leaves me breathless
Skillful Warriors
Whom I admire and long to resemble
Yet when I look at me
All I see are green, supple twigs
Nothing like the sturdy, woody branches
Of the specimens that surround me.

But now,
As I have gained in height
As my roots have extended themselves
And burrowed deeper into the earth
Coming closer to my Point of Anchorage,
I realise that time brings rewards
And patience is the tool
That will allow me
To extract the precious ore
From the sediment of the experiences
That wash down to me in the stream of time.

So although it is imperceptible
Growth is happening
Every experience is a blessing
There is no way to run ahead
I accept myself
For where I am
It is up to me to absorb
And synthesise the nutrients in the layers
That my roots have penetrated so far
So that I can send them even deeper down
And reach my branches even higher
To one day join the summit of the forest
And take my place
As a stable part of the green canopy
To shelter the seedlings under me.