Ballooning green leaves rush 
From the fingertips of nature’s hands
Like fists piercing the earth 
A passage between earth and sky 

A poplar blows side to side 
Like a nervous child in the school line 
Skinny and taller than most 
She listens with her patient eye 

That hornbeam bully 
Who snatches your lunch 
Is fatter, no wiser  
Even if it hurts  
  
Sweet chestnut you don’t know who I am
Or who I’ll become 
So I’ll love you from a distance
And that’s ok 

My leaves will still tremble on hollow twigs 
But like a true Birch
I will find my journey to the sky
And leave this earth