Worth The Risk

When Giant Sequoias

Are threatened 

Their cones close

Curl up into themselves

To survive

 

To this

I can relate

 

But they don’t 

Stay closed

 

Despite the damage caused

Despite any lingering pain 

 

Despite the utter disappointment

Of learning again

That the world

Is not safe

 

When the danger passes

The cones reopen

 

Offer themselves up 

To the world

 

Knowing this

Is the way 

To something better

 

Deciding 

It’s all worth

The risk