Parasitism or Responsibility?

Standing on the edge of time I looked and saw a tree

Apart from lesser beings creeping in its shadow

And I noted great stature;

Tall and proud.

I felt small beneath this looming immensity

Yet, it was anchored in one place,

Unable to enjoy that

Which was not present.

Fibrous feet reached deeply into the earth

Over which it towered with arms

Appearing as though

They held the sky

While I merely passed by to other sights and scenes

Remaining not a part, but an observer

Who cultivated,

Who harvested,

Who lived as a scurrying infestation rushing about

Upon the surface, taking sustenance

Rather than building

And anchoring.

It was then I asked if parasitism was my lot or,

Was my purpose much higher than the

Flora which sustained

This place?

The light of awareness lifted me

And I saw within, the responsibility for stewarding

These resources which had been

Provided.

"The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." -- Genesis 2:15