Up the Rigging, Take in Sail

"How can I do what you say," asked Little Jimmy, "and still be me?"

"Look at me," said The Tree. "I bend in the wind, droop in the rain. Yet I always remain myself: a tree."

"Look at me," said Errand Wolfe. "I can't change."

"Look at me," said The Tree. "I change every season from green to brown to green again, from bud to flower to fallen leaf. Yet I always remain myself: a tree."

"I can't love anymore," said Tela. "With my love, I have given away all that I am."

"Look at me," said The Tree. "There's a mockingbird on my branch, a possum in my trunk, lizards and spotted stripers living on my bark. They may take what I have, but not what I am."

(pic by author, 6/4/09, Nikon at Jones Beach Amphitheater)