A COCONUT TREE STUMP

     A friend challenged me to write a poem on the above subject because I have said that anything in nature tells us a story and it also teaches us to be wise. We can learn many lessons from Mother Nature if only we take time to observe and listen to her. Well, because of this challenge, the poem below is accomplished:

A COCONUT TREE STUMP

Stump,

Coconut tree,

Without its crown,

Defiantly alone it stands

Against all the natural elements

Succumb not to the forceful wind,

Lashes by the tormenting rain,

Severely slapped by lightning;

Still remain standing,

Scars revealing,

Motionless!

 

 

Am I not a stump at this stage of my life?

Single and alone I have to face;

The adversity of time is against me,

The journey I alone must take!

None can shield me from the icy wind,

Nor shade me from the sorching sun;

The lashes of lightning my frail body bears,

The scars of time my skin cannot repair;

Motionless, I stand being whipped by time,

Like the tree stump refusing to succumb;

The elements of nature can never bend,

The inner spirit of an enlightened man!

The stump is a witness and a testimony,

To all who bravely journey,

Into the grinding wheels of time.

Loneliness, sickness and helplessness,

Is part and parcel at this stage of life,

Just beyond the horizonis life’s final station,

We shall be there in a twinkling of the eye!

 

When you see a solitary coconut tree stump,

Salute it respectfully with your right thumb!