Wisdom, growth, and legacy: rings that charter time,
A silent voice, a rooted cause, where structures often chime.
Furnished stoically in stifling scorch, invigorated by the frost,
As the zephyr lands, the silence screams the decades have been lost.
The rain and Sun circle you, to quench you without fear—
Fire, Earth, Air, and Water—for the truth is always near.
The seed so deep, the umba's core, hidden in unknown,
Embryo speech and penetrated light, anchored in the stone.
Quiet, still, steadfast, unmoving without stress,
Placid and verdant, firmly fixed, in the presence of your caress.
You cry and whisper in silence, unbothered by the seasons;
In Terra Firma you have come, for a multitude of reasons.
You kiss the clouds and hug the ground, through rain and sleet and snow,
For pendants hang from every branch; what is above is also below.
Kirk Sutherland