Family Tree Poem by Jim Yerman

The roots of a family tree run deep for they were planted long ago.
generation upon generation have nurtured and watched that family grow

into a tree whose strength and beauty is impossible deny.
into a tree whose myriad of branches now reach high up to the sky,

There is also no denying how the formation of that tree
has been shaped by many blessings…and much adversity.

There is joy within the tree…happiness in every branch and leaf…
no matter if they've grown for years…or if their time upon the tree was brief.

There is sorrow within the tree…for representing every grief…
there is a branch that has been broken…there is a fallen leaf.

When a branch has broken off..or a leaf has fallen from the tree…
It may be difficult to remain hopeful…it may be difficult to see

how that family tree will ever be the same without the portion they brought to it…
and even though it's heart is broken…the tree somehow muddles through it…

For a family soon discovers…
how new growth on the tree is conceived…
cultivated from the remnants of its broken branches…
nurtured from what remains of its fallen leaves.