R A Ruadh

I am Crann Bethadh

I am a tiny green bud on a branch

Unfurling a little too early

There is concern I might not grow up

That I will shrivel and fall

Somehow I hang on in the face of frost

I open a leaf seeking the sun

My shape and size unlike the others

Who look down from on high

Blocking the sun from my hiding place

I am stronger than I know

Comes the summer of my life

Battering storms and drought

Threaten to tear me leaf from limb

I shelter flowers and a tiny fruit

I will not let her fall

My little one grows and takes flight

Instead of crashing down she stands

Sturdy trunk and protective branch

Planting seeds of her own

We are joined at the roots

Now in my autumn years

I am bright and unafraid

On fire and weathered as I am

Still good for more seasons to come

Fall is not winter yet

I watch the ground below

As my elders fall layer by layer

One day I will drift down with the snow

Joining them as one connection

Endless springs of rising sap

Crann Bethadh is the Celtic term for the tree of Life