I am a broken branch
One of many on an old oak tree
Reaching out to its branches above
Longing to stretch up towards them

One small branch striving
To keep the rest from cracking in the wind
A small part of this oak
But still essential to its existence

I stretch out alone
Above the ground and the earth
Seeing the broken branches I knew
Scattered about me in disarray

Some have taken an axe
To our very roots
This destruction inherited
By each new generation

How I long to take that axe
And toss it deep out to sea
Never to allow its sharp bite
To wound these branches again

I am one of many branches
On this broken tree
But alone I shall stand
And plant the seeds of a new day