#emerald tree

Serpent Tree by Julia Wyzgowska

A minimal line-art illustration of a Serpent Tree plant also called China Doll plant or Emerald Tree.

Available on my Redbubble.

Two green leaves remain

Like emeralds in the sky

They seemed to have survived the storm

Sprouting out above your naked branches

During the day, the sun shines down

In a shower of golden rays

That form a glow around the green

At certain moments, I find myself beneath your branches

Looking up and wondering if I’ll ever reach the life

That exists so near, yet stretches so far

Other times, I sit beside you

Tears glistening in my eyes

My cries unknown to the world

But you know, you know.

And then there are instances

When I place my hand against your slender trunk

The bark scarred and knotted in the places where parasites found a home

And you were cut in attempts to destroy the demons.

I whisper softly

Words that can never be heard

But you hear, you hear.

And in the spring,

You blossom, dotting the scenery with splotches of bright pastels

And in the summer,

Your flowers turn to leaves, marking life with the deepest of greens

And in the fall,

You transform, leaving people breathless in a display of fiery colors

And in the winter,

Your armor drops away, giving off an illusion that you’re no longer there

But I know that beneath the lifeless brown

The colors just lie dormant

To burst out one day in a beautiful array

I long to climb into your beckoning branches

And stay with you, among the stars

As the wind caresses the two of us

And the clouds frolic in our joy

But for now, I sit and wait

Wait until I find the strength to lift myself up

Up into your arms