My body was nothing but a bed of moss
undulating under the canopy of an old tree.
It felt like I was a part of every living thing,
and they, too, were a part of me.
Here I stayed for what seemed like centuries
with no other purpose than to exist.
I watched a thousand creatures be born and die,
but Mother Nature was hardy and would persist.
Then one day, I felt my body bursting,
stretching both into the ground and toward the sky.
Overnight, I sprouted deep roots and
a trunk that grew strong and high.
My body forked into two perfectly symmetrical
systems of branches and wide leaves.
I felt such joy to have a purpose, offering
shelter to the animals under my natural eaves.
I passed my days to the circadian rhythms,
passed my years to the seasonal rotations,
and I learned tha
