Birch

Birch

If I look out into the world

Too far

Too long

I feel fear rising up 

Choking me

I look away

Sit beneath a birch tree

And feel peace

Drench my soul like

Rain on parched ground

I watch the brutal beauty

Of nature

And remember that

Disease, death, decay

Are all part of the same cycle

As life and growth

And I can look out into the world again

For a while