it is the peripheral sense
of warmth
that cracks the hard shell
of the seed
and sets the the tender shoot
to rising toward unknown
emerging from the safety
of the soil
stem dancing in its prayer
toward the songs of light
offered by the sun

but what is left unseen
is what submerges
into deep
the courageous
and ever delving anchor
that gives the willow
its right to wings
and the roots
that weave the grounding
to form purpose
of the inspiration
to aspire to the flight

and every leaf
that quivers
every flower that offers up
its moist and open mouth
every fruit that swells
and ripens
under dreams of kisses
of the sun
does not give of itself
what it has not first
nurtured in the depth
of hidden realms
dancing its secret dance
veiled within the layers
of earth internal
cloaked inside the dark