Placed

Here is the small and rainy town
Where I live 
Surrounded by
The young who bear their
Arrogance like a badge
The sun shines from 
Drawing on 
Its light and warmth, its
Temporary illusion.

They will find
That all good roads
Lead to pain of some kind
That requires their
Growing into it -
Truth comes with time
And walking willingly
To find it.

So it rains today on
A seaside town
Where my grain's being 
Grows another ring from 
Such watering.  My years
Beginning here are
Widening.

I am 
Rough on the outside, my bark
Tough, fibrous stuff, inured to
Harrowing and scraping, is
Ridged with pride.  I am
Fashioned from a
Golden seed - I glow and
Redden in my season - it is 
Here I spread my wood.

Such is
My food, my own 
Reason for being I suck from
This planting.  I refine
And redefine
The intricacies of matter
And the rain -
Its delicate webbing
Its correspondences
That grow to be 
A finished tree shaped and
Well-placed: me.

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