I noticed that tree looks like an abdominal aorta

I may be the only person who notices that

And maybe my old study buddy

We’re both doctors – sorta

Too much time in the anatomy books

Makes nature and everything take on some strange looks

But I love to get out in it

Any time I have a minute

So I took some time today to observe that tree

A big white trunk with a million little branches

When the wind blows, I see them doing dances

It got me thinking about how we’re all connected

Even the limbs at the bottom are dependent on that trunk

Just like the little branches at the top

They all boast beautiful leaves in autumn

We all know someone who knows someone – call it circulation

We all extend out from a giant trunk

As the heart goes lub-dub, cha-chunk

Despite your nation or your skin color

We’re intertwined like arteries and veins

We all know one another and we’re ultimately all the same

There’s problems with blockages

When blood flow stops

Flowers and seeds, like people, become hostages

Leaves fall like blood drops

Where are the roots, where is the heart?

I’m looking hard – for the true vine

The people I see each day are images of the divine

To put a slit in one’s tire

Is to put a bullet in my own foot

It’s autoimmune when harm is what we do

We’ll all return to soot

Like a fungus evil hunts us

That tree trunk was white with brown spots

The thousand little branches and twigs reached out

Like they were chiming, “Don’t let us rot”

Where is the true root?

Where is the aorta?

I wonder as I live in a world where guns shoot, tires are pierced by nails

Fungus and cancer prevails

There are a million branches

Seemingly after one thing: truth

I’m still trying to understand this

When one is neglected, when one is killed , when one is harmed

It’s like cutting off an arm

We are all connected