She reasoned
That when it was all "said and done"
She'd know that she did the best she could.

"Trees do not uproot themselves for your pleasure,"
She told herself.

"They are uprooted because they must be,
By wind or rain or decay, or for want of money."
Her heart sank slightly.
"But they do not take commands."

A pebble rolled grittily between the rubber sole
Of her shoe and the slumbering asphalt.
She watched it ricochet off into the dark tree line.

"I will climb trees," she thought, and for the first time in days
She felt herself
Smile.