If I were a tree

(This is an odd one- I asked my son to give me an idea for a poem and he asked me to write one from the perspective of a tree)

If I were a plant I would need to be

Extremely ingenious to compensate for my lack of mobility

Sophisticated communication strategies I would have to devise

Instead of being able to use nose, mouth and eyes

Towards light I would know to gravitate

I would recognize when my nectar touched an insect’s palate

Being literally grounded, I would always remain

Down to earth, even when my branches reached heights insane..

*

From a vantage point everything I would witness

Heat, dust and storms I would weather, mostly with success

By undergoing transformation from within

I would stick to Mother earth through thick and thin..

*

I would not travel but my seeds would be scattered elsewhere

Moving creatures might transport me everywhere

Where planted, I would spread my roots

Grow skyward to bestow on the world my fruits