Grow Faster

As Sequoias

Get older

They grow faster

 

Becoming 

More impressive

With age

 

And I intend

To do

The same

 

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

Brag

That the 

Giant Sequoia

The world’s 

Largest tree

Produces

Remarkably small

Cones

Makes me smile

Unimpressive cones

Produced by 

Unprecedented

Majesty

Just needing time

To show 

Their worth

A reminder

Not to judge

A person 

Or a thing

By what it appears

To offer

To the world

Sometimes 

Life’s most majestic things

Don’t like to brag

Possible

Despite

Heavy damage

Sustained

To its core

From flames

That have surrounded it

From forces

That would fell

Anything else

The Giant Sequoia

Is able to

Stand tall

Remain healthy

Continue growing

And that

Is how I learned

It was possible

Potential

Even as a baby

Just three feet high

A Giant Sequoia 

Is still called

By its name

Because of what

The world knows

It will become

May the message

Of our own

Potential 

Be spoken 

As boldly to us 

As we set off

On our own

Important 

Journeys