Tree

By Shaurjyadeep Ray

A young sapling watches a family enter their new home

The kids lift the small boxes while the parents the big ones

They put their name on the front door to make that house their own

Welcome to the smith family, mom, dad, one daughter and two sons

Quite some time later, the sapling has now grown into a young tree

And with that, it has watched the kids grow into mighty teens

It watches them argue with their parents about wanting to be free

It seems like they’ll be allowed to do so in a few years on their own means

The tree will bear fruits soon, now it has grown into an adult

It watches the mother take care of it carefully and eagerly waiting

Just like how the parents are excited for their kid’s college admission results Tears in their eyes dreaming about the type of life they’ll be creating

The tree feels proud of the round, colourful fruits it has made

Like the mother feels proud of her eldest son getting into his dream school Like the father feels proud seeing his daughter walk down the stairs for prom excited and afraid And with their friends, have a party reminiscing about their lives,

drinking and sitting by the pool

The tree watches the eldest son leave home for the first time

While everybody else is hugging him and they cry

The tree wishing it could tell them that he will be completely fine

But he can’t join that hug, no matter how hard it tries

Day by day, the tree watches the kids grow up and the parents get older

In time, both of the kids go off to college and start making their own paths The tree senses the house slowly getting lonely and colder

It sees that the parents need somebody to restart their hearts

The tree wakes up one day to a new companion

A creature of average size with golden fur and a wet nose

It finds it amusing and a welcome expansion

To the family, she’s simply known as rose

The tree is getting older now and it knows

And one day, sees the eldest son bring home a lady in white

They seem to be celebrating some occasion with wine and roe

The kids all grown up and they seem to be doing alright

The trees watches the parents get grey and slow

Just as its leaves are shedding away to repolish it’s shine

They hold their grandkids sitting on the porch, putting on a show

He knows that quiet moments like this are hard to find

By Shaurjyadeep Ray