Green Leaves

A childhood tree remembers you

Remember what the green leaves looked like
when lying on your back on the green grass
in a bespeckled green world,

or how glowing green leaves
resembled loving hands
giving you a hug
as you climbed thick branches.

That first branch
was always a big leap,
but you figured it out.

And do you still remember your route?

Right foot here,
left hand there.

Pull, twist around this limb,
lean under this one.

The green hands,
the limbs,
the massive trunk
whispered the way always:

You are safe here.
Welcome home.
When are you coming again?

A poem by Pemba Umoja