A lightning bolt struck this tree
By Jennifer Poroye
A lightning bolt struck this tree
Ages ago
Its branches withered
stretching its limbs
in every direction
Its swollen roots clinging to the forest floor
Claiming the space with no remorse
But it was violently divided
Where the lightning struck
You could see the jagged edges of its insides
Burnt black
like a permanent wound
I wonder what the world was like
When the sky decided to cross paths
with you?
Why did they choose you?
What a cruel twist of fate
That left you dancing with death
On a stormy day
Did you try to run?
Did you try to protect yourself?
Could you feel a catastrophe
was lingering around the corner
when they singled you out?
Did your brother and sister trees
Fend for you when you couldn’t fend for yourself?
That, I can’t tell. Neither can I figure out
how you turned your bruise
into a badge of honor
How your wounds now form a cocoon for
us to sit and ponder
your history in
There is a metaphor
In the way your beauty
Hides in the crook of your pain
That I am still trying to learn
As you continue to stand
