Oregon Oak

Consider the Oregon Oak

Vast and strong

Upright
yet yielding

She rises
Branches turning

This way and that

Finding her bearings

Home to Lichen

Bees

Birds and squirrels

A myriad of insects

Her wisdom
Encompasses more time

Than any of us

Observing her can match

She strides the hillside
Motionless and in motion

The wind sings
through her extremities

Sending her tiny children
and leaves

Tumbling to earth

in a cascade of life giving
bounty

Is her speechlessness
confounding?

Is her solid form a sign
of inferiority?

Or is she

Like God itself

Standing erect
and watchful upon the land?