Dear Broken Branch

Dear Broken Branch,

_

Did it hurt when you fell, crashing from the family tree?

Thrown to the ground in a violent thud.

Cast out,

By Mother Nature’s fierce screaming winds and

Father Winter’s bitter, icy heart.

Did it break your heart as your innocent limbs shattered on impact?

Or just your bones?

Did anyone care

as you lay there,

Still hugging that family tree,

Begging forgiveness for your greatest and only sin -

WEAKNESS?

Can you see the tiny buds forming when you look up?

Did you know they’re meant to replace you, and that

Not one limb on that family tree misses you,

Or even cares that you ever existed?

They don’t think about you at all.

They’re too busy with those new buds.

Sustaining, protecting them,

As they once protected you

Until you were struck by a bolt from one much more powerful.

And when that trauma came, what did your family tree do?

They ignored you. They gave you no more sustenance;

No more buds, no more leaves, no more blooms,

No more protection.

They watched you slowly weaken until you lost the strength to hold on.

Then they cast you away,

And sent you crashing to the ground in a violent thud;

Where you still lie,

Rejected, ignored,

Left to be shit on by birds and have what remains of your bones

Chewed apart by animals.

Yet still, you lie there

Hugging that family tree, still praying for forgiveness for your weakness,

And acceptance for who you are.

I’m sorry to tell you, Broken Branch, but that acceptance will never come.

It’s time for you to move on, time to change your form,

And your future.

I know, that sounds painful, but trust me it will be okay.

You will live on, even if not in your original state.

You will get a new family and they will make you happy.

You will cover them.

You will sustain them.

You will guard them with the fiercest protection;

The protection that was never given to you.

_

Sincerely,

One who believes in you