The Red Wood

The dirt was under my fingernails for months
I planted this seed with my own two hands
Rains of circumstance inevitably fell
And our love grew like a red wood

Eight months passed and saw roots
Deeply woven into the soil
Sure, they came and tried to chop it down
But a red wood is thick skinned

I was certain it would grow until
It was marveled by all the other trees
Standing mighty and strong
People would write about us

I never saw termites coming
Eating us away from the inside out
By the time we came crashing down
Everything still looked perfect on the outside

But you were like the leaves
Taken by the wind away from me
Until you found a new place to grow
Far away from our cracked past

But as you were carried to new things
I remained rooted like the stump
Just a fraction of what I used to be
Humbled and broken but still planted

The seasons changed and I remained
Wired in the same spot, unmoved
Cold rains fell with pity
Splattering drops of sorrow on my cracked spine

I dreamed of moving on to new things
To growing tall in a new place
To maybe finding where the wind brought you
But I could never move from my place in the soil