The Hidden Beauty Of Trees

• Ashleigh Dowling, Grade 7, Tintern Schools - Tintern - Girls Grammar
• Poetry
• 2015

Finalist in the 'Read Write Repeat 2015' competition

A great protuberance of the Earth,
The leaves it has shed, lay in its girth,
Its torso swathed in flaking skin
Abscesses bleed sap, from veins deep within.
Disfigured limbs, present themselves raw,
Bearing, with pride, each blemish, each flaw,
Shrouded in masses of papery leaves
Stolen by the wind and set down upon eaves.
Charred fingers still frozen in a beckoning call
Though contorted and crippled, still it stands tall,
Its roots wisely laid upon soil long ago
Long locks of leaves that the cold wind does throw.
Yet through its defects, lies a beauty so rare
Inexplicable, but unmissable, grace beyond all compare,
It is profoundly exquisite, while we make such a fuss
To make ourselves beautiful... trees will still surpass us.