VOLUME 7 |ISSUE 3 |2016 2121
Arts: Poetry and Photography By Carrie Buddington
The Tree and the Fence
I grow until I hit the fence.
Cold. Steel. Ungiving.
It tells me, “Here and no further.
I restrict you to my space.”
I press against its cold steel.
Unmoving. Unyielding. Unforgiving.
It does not move.
It is not wrong.
It thinks it’s right
to hold me there.
Still my roots sink deep
My growth cannot be stopped.
I push against the hard and cold
I find a way around it.
Cold. Steel. Unyielding,
It will not move.
Still my roots are deep
And my growth cannot be stopped.
I swell around the cold and hard
And yet its message
Sinks into my heart
My soul.
I live around it as it slices deeper within me.
Past my boundaries
Becoming part of my being.
“No further,” it says. “You will stay in place.
Think not to go forth.”
Still my roots are deep
And nothing can stop my growth
For the life blood flows
The sap arises
I grow around the fence
And still become who and what I am.
The cold steel’s presence
Will forever stain
the memories of this time,
The scars run deep.
But still I am
Who I am.
Still I leaf and blossoms follow
Still I give my gifts to all
Still I grow
from roots sunk deep
That steel so hard and cold
That fence with all its strength and might
Did try to bind and block my life
Did slice a wound and causéd pain
But Life cannot be stopped.
It grows and grows until its whole.
And all the pain and steely cold
Its harm is rendered powerless
And fades beneath the healing.
A witness I stand
with wound so clear
That Life is stronger
and will prevail.
Carrie Buddington, 2016
Tree and Fence: The teaching may start out as a guideline,
like a fence, and serve a good purpose but if it constricts
and tries to prevent growth, it ends up causing deep scars.
The tree grew around the fence, but the fence is still deep
within its very being.
Arts: Poetry and Photography By Carrie Buddington
The Tree and the Fence
I grow until I hit the fence.
Cold. Steel. Ungiving.
It tells me, “Here and no further.
I restrict you to my space.”
I press against its cold steel.
Unmoving. Unyielding. Unforgiving.
It does not move.
It is not wrong.
It thinks it’s right
to hold me there.
Still my roots sink deep
My growth cannot be stopped.
I push against the hard and cold
I find a way around it.
Cold. Steel. Unyielding,
It will not move.
Still my roots are deep
And my growth cannot be stopped.
I swell around the cold and hard
And yet its message
Sinks into my heart
My soul.
I live around it as it slices deeper within me.
Past my boundaries
Becoming part of my being.
“No further,” it says. “You will stay in place.
Think not to go forth.”
Still my roots are deep
And nothing can stop my growth
For the life blood flows
The sap arises
I grow around the fence
And still become who and what I am.
The cold steel’s presence
Will forever stain
the memories of this time,
The scars run deep.
But still I am
Who I am.
Still I leaf and blossoms follow
Still I give my gifts to all
Still I grow
from roots sunk deep
That steel so hard and cold
That fence with all its strength and might
Did try to bind and block my life
Did slice a wound and causéd pain
But Life cannot be stopped.
It grows and grows until its whole.
And all the pain and steely cold
Its harm is rendered powerless
And fades beneath the healing.
A witness I stand
with wound so clear
That Life is stronger
and will prevail.
Carrie Buddington, 2016
Tree and Fence: The teaching may start out as a guideline,
like a fence, and serve a good purpose but if it constricts
and tries to prevent growth, it ends up causing deep scars.
The tree grew around the fence, but the fence is still deep
within its very being.
