Briar & Brambles

I was not there when seed came to germination;
nor was I there when the sprout had sprung.
But I’ve been here ever since you started to bloom and blossom.

I stumbled upon the wild brambles on a path I had never intended on taking;
a path I have never regretted taking.

Others would have stolen you from your soil bed,
to protect you from the storms and frost-
perhaps even to attempt to tame such a wild and thorny wilding.
But it was obvious to me you didn’t need me for that.
You had grown just fine without me and you would continue to thrive without my intervention.

So I came by every once in a while just to see how much you had grown.
The funny thing about briar and brambles is how they grow wildly.
They don’t need a gardner to push and shape them to their container-
I was amazed to see what you had tried and where you had decided to go.

So I watched as you learned and adapted to that wild hillside;
As you twisted through the weeds and gravel
to become the brambles I so admire today.

I often wondered if you doubted your worth-
If you knew just how much you meant to me.
There’s a reason you grew where you did- even if you didn’t know what that reason was;
There’s a reason I took that path that day, even If I didn’t know what that reason was.

I was not there when seed came to germination;
nor was I there when the sprout had sprung.
But I’ll be here when the wild roses come back in the Summer,
I’ll be here when the briar stumbles,
I’ll be here when the brambles bear fruit,
When the hillside gives new life.