Open to the elements

Open to the elements

Arms outstretched

In welcome

Spread wide

Every finger

Splayed to its full extent

Oak trees are brave not bashful

They are a display

With bragging rights

Broad leaves soak up

Every drop of sunlight

Leaving nothing

But imagination

To grow into

Shelter beneath

Comfort me with stories

Let me clamber

Into the canopy

Build a house in the branches

Hitch a rope as a

Makeshift swing

Remember how to laugh

Without reservation

As the wind tugs

It is easy to let go

A clean drop into the water

Fully clothed

In Sunday best

It happened before

Packed off to bed

With no supper

A tanned hide

To remember it by

As the tree is my witness

And yours before me

An arboreal delight

To nurture

It is in our nature

If we let it be so

We can grow a forest full

Of stories

Page by page.