there is bark in this skin
sap in this blood
these wood bones lift like branches
reaching for something beyond the earth I was rooted in
wishing to be more than timber for another’s fire
wishing to be leaves that provide shade
to be nuts & syrup which nourish, even in a winter
this trunk that I am is covered with knots
wanting to be filled with nests & larvae
with a love only a parent knows
to have all my emptiness to be a home
to have these branches be strong enough
to cradle a child
to hold her up
to have her climb and reach heights
I never could
