The Tree of Life

A tiny sapling growing aloft
Leaves sprouting ever so soft
It rises, reaches, toward the sun
Rises, reaches, toward the sun

A wooden frame youthful and strong
Birds embrace it with their gentle song
Before it a whole new world is born
As the old one dies withered and worn

Majestic crowns forming archways up above
Beneath it dancing shadows along a wild grove
It lives and breathes, is born and reborn
From the ashes of old trees withered and worn

A storm approaches, blindingly white
Withering leaves encased in ice
Shadows appear in the fading light
They will soon be replaced by perpetual night

The great forest fought well but all in vain
The once tiny sapling is all that remains
In the barren wasteland stands a lone tree
A tree whose endurance this world has yet to see

Stunning silence swallows the day
With nothing but starlight to show the way
In a lifeless world it is all alone
Clinging to a memory of how the sun shone

Deep within a frozen tomb
It hibernates inside winters womb
Sweeping across the white plains
The bitter wind is all that remains

Something stirs beneath the ice
A place once thought devoid of life
It rises, reaches toward the sun
Rises, reaches toward the sun

After years upon years of tremendous strife
Its acorns give birth to a new cycle of life
For such a feat it was given a name
The Tree of Life which would later bring fame

Gather around and enter the fold
Gather your children, your young and your old
Listen to me and I’ll tell you my story
Of life, of death, of rebirth and of glory

Inside the cave the first man awakes
As the rising sun sets the world ablaze
Later the cry of a newborn child
Followed by voices soft and mild

Pale moonlight reveal his path
Along dark plains ever so vast
Spear in his hand, he steps without a sound
A whimper in the night, as his prey has been found

At times they starve, but tonight at least
Around the fire they’ll have a feast
Watch how quickly they expand and evolve
Watch them grow with limitless resolve

My children felled and burnt to ash
I always knew this would come to pass
Their deaths bring forth tremendous strife
Still my acorns give birth to a new cycle of life

Wooden cities rising far and wide
Boats across the sea, they follow the tide
The world is changing, this I don’t mind
An enlightened age, I think you’ll find

Before me rises a whole new civilization
From this cradle until their final destination
They will rule the world, but only for a time
Before the end they’ll claim all that was mine

In the shadows of war, they’ll build a wall
I know in my heart it won’t matter at all
In vain they’ll each carry a thousand stones
Though in my dreams I saw an orchard of bones

A torrential rain of fire ravages the land
Turns out there’s a price to the sentience of man
The offspring of enlightenment, for better and for worse
Is the gift of both prosperity, of pain and remorse

Veiled in darkness ever so vast
The vale a distant memory of the past
Later they named it the vale of tears
It’s birth a manifestation of their fears

It is born in the darkest corners of humanity
And nurtured by corruption, fear and vanity
It is a starless sky leading them astray
A starless sky leading them astray

Frozen soil lay across the earth
Icy embrace claims the hearth
Sweeping across the white plains
The bitter wind is all that remains

Gentle birdsong swallows the night
Gentle sunlight sets the world alight
A field once empty save an unborn child
Now a great forest untamed and wild

Inside the cave the second man awakes
As the rising sun sets the world ablaze
In the horizon approaches a blinding light
It is a testament to humanity’s might

With the rising moon follows the tide
In pale moonlight they no longer hide
The pale moonlight revealing his path
Pale moonlight revealing his path

A storm approaches, blindingly white
Withering leaves encased in ice
Shadows appear in the fading light
They will soon be replaced by perpetual night

The great forest fought well but all in vain
The once tiny sapling is all that remains
In the frozen wasteland stands a lone tree
A tree whose defiance no one will see

Eternity passing trapped in solitude
Insanity held at bay with everlasting fortitude
In a lifeless world I am all alone
Clinging to a memory of how the sun shone

I was here long before mankind
And everything they left behind
I’ll be here long after they’re gone
Clinging to a memory of how the sun shone

A thousand years have come to pass
Soon there’ll be nothing but silence, alas
Nothing but the whisper of leaves in the wind
With no one around to pay it any mind

A scorching desert devoid of all life
As if the mother of all creation rolled a dice
She grieves beneath the burning sky
Grieves beneath the burning sky

With the dying sun my end grows near
As foretold by the prophets of yesteryear
The seas boiled to nothing but steam
I’ll soon enter the vale of dreams

My wooden frame burning away
All that is left is death and decay
Shadows appear in the fading light
They will soon be replaced by perpetual night