the heart of a tree

Tonight, as a change of pace, I figured that I would share a children's story that I wrote a number of years ago. It's been gathering dust (and rejection letters), so it is in serious need of a good home. I'm hoping it finds one here.

THE HEART OF A TREE
By: Katherine Signorelli

In the heart of an old wood of bramble and thorn

Lived a great mother oak and her baby acorn.

Mother oak loved her acorn--and no love was deeper--

But knew, though she could hold her, she never could keep her.

“One day,” said the tree to her littlest one

“You’ll break free of your shell by the light of the sun.

“And you’ll sprout your own roots, and you’ll be on your way!

And you’ll reach up great branches like I do, someday.”

The acorn was small, and it pained her to wait;

For, though she was tiny, she longed to be great. 

“Just believe in yourself,” said the great mother tree,

“And someday you’ll be bigger and stronger than me!”

“But I am too little,” the acorn replied.

“You’re little right now, but you’ve greatness inside!

“And, someday, you’ll find it--just wait, and you’ll see!

For inside your small shell lies the heart of a tree.”

The acorn took pride. She itched to break out.

She could feel all that greatness just waiting about.

“When?” asked the acorn, “When will I be great?”

The mother oak smiled. “My acorn, just wait.”

One day, said the acorn, “Please teach me to grow.

I don’t want to be little forever, you know.”

“There’s a cycle to life, and to all in its grasp

Be careful, my acorn. Don’t move it too fast.

“Before very long will come your time to go

So I’ll teach you the things that an acorn must know. 

“Someday, you will travel the land of your birth

To find your own place, in your own patch of earth.”

“Why?” asked the acorn, “But what if I stayed?”

“You cannot grow if you live in my shade.

“So don’t fear to find your own place on the land,

Because I will be with you wherever you stand.”

Acorn pondered her great mother’s words for a while,

And mother oak smiled her wise, knowing smile.

Said the eager young acorn, “I’m ready, I’ll bet!”

Mother oak whispered softly, “My acorn, not yet.”

In the depths of the forest, that springtime did pass.

Too slowly for acorn. For her mother, too fast.

One day, asked the acorn, “How do I grow tall?

I’m sick and I’m tired of being so small.”

The mother tree laughed, “My dear little seed,

You must first find the things that an acorn will need.

“When you come to a place where the weather’s just right,

And there’s just enough water, and plenty of light,

“You’ll begin to take root, and your roots must be strong

As they’re what will connect you to where you belong.

“Your roots will support you, and help you to grow;

With strong roots, there’s no telling how far you can go!

“With your roots in the ground, your real journey’s begun:

You’ll sprout big, shiny green leaves to gather the sun.”

Like a sponge, acorn soaked up all mother tree said.

“But what if I land in the wrong place, instead?”

“In the wrong kind of soil, where light does not fall,

Some trees grow crooked-- but you will stand tall.

“Though, at times, it may seem hard to tell wrong from right,

You will never go wrong if you follow the light.”

The warm days of summer did soon wax and wane,

And the crisp autumn winds foretold mother oak’s pain.

The oak looked at her young one with bittersweet eyes.

Her once-tiny acorn had doubled in size!

Her acorn was ready, the oak thought with pride,

To become the great tree she was always inside.

“I have given you, acorn, all I can provide.

Now the path that’s before you is yours to decide.

“You’ve learned all I can teach. You’re no longer too small.

It’s time now for you to be part of it all.

“It’s time, little acorn.”

“But am I prepared? I’m not sure what to do. I’m a little bit scared.”

“We all are, my acorn,” the mother tree quoth,

“But fear is just part of the process of growth.

“Sometimes, you’ll be scared, but you’ll have to go on--

For it’s only through this that you’ll one day be strong.”

The acorn fell softly from mother tree’s eaves,

Into mother tree’s shade, in a bed of her leaves.

For a moment, she lingered, half-frozen in place,

But she knew that, to grow up, she first needed space.

So mother tree rustled her branches goodbye,

And the acorn rolled off with her eyes on the sky.

The small acorn traveled through disparate sands,

Under wide, open skies, into faraway lands.

Till she happened upon the most fertile of loam,

And the acorn just knew she’d, at last, found her home.

The cold days of winter became of the fall.

And not very much seemed to happen, at all.

But the acorn believed in the heights she could climb

--And knew growth happens one tiny inch at a time--

So the acorn stayed brave, and that was the thing

That carried her through to the warm days of spring.

The days soon grew longer, and down the rains came.

And, somehow, the acorn was not quite the same.

She felt herself changing. She knew. She could tell.

She no longer fit into the same, tiny shell.

She was simply too big to find comfort inside,

So the shell she had lived in began to divide.

Little by little, till out came a shoot!

And the once-tiny acorn began to take root.

She clung to the ground, spreading roots deep and wide

To carry the bounty the earth could provide. 

She stretched herself out, she began to uncoil,

And in no time at all, a sprout sprung from the soil.

She had worked toward her goal, and now she was succeeding!

No longer an acorn, she now was a seedling!

She followed the sun toward the sky, where it led,

Growing great, leafy branches, like her mother had said.

As the young tree grew taller, her views did expand.

She could take in much more of the lay of the land.

And the things that had once seemed so big in her eyes,

She could tell, from this height, were quite little in size.

The higher she climbed, the more in her sight.

She could see her great mother in all her great height!

Though the distance between them was wide and was long,

Mother oak had been watching with pride, all along.

And with all of her might, ever sunward she yearned--

As the things most important take time to be earned—

But with something to grow toward, and the courage to try,

Now nothing could bind her but the infinite sky.

Then, some years later, a mighty oak stood,

With a tall, sturdy trunk, in the heart of a wood.

Her acorn sat perched on a branch way up high,

With a shell full of promise-- her eyes on the sky.

“When will I grow up? What can I do?

I want to be bigger and stronger, like you!”

Said the once-little acorn that now was a tree,

“Be patient, my acorn--someday, you will be.”