The Littlest Tree

There was a little tree
Small and unimposing
Surrounded by all the great pines
Their voices mingled with the wind
Unaware of the little tree
She was a different kind of tree
Not a mighty red wood like they 
But a small and uninspiring monterey pine
How she had managed to take root here
Why at times she felt it was all her fault 
That she had purposely invaded their hallowed forest
Year after year she grew in silence
Her little limbs made no sound
Her voice was not mingled with the huge ones
She felt unwanted and unnoticed
If she could have slumped she would have
But as the years came and went 
An odd thing happened 
She was growing taller and stronger
Not like a red wood giant,
No but she had a unique strength
An ability to adapt 
When the first forest fire raged 
It had taken many of the old ones
She being so healthy and moist
Her pine needles full of water
She survived unscathed 
She found she could see around herself 
See the ocean and her waves
See the beautiful rocky coast line
See other trees like herself!!
Why they were the most beautiful
The most beautiful trees she had ever seen
They could grow and thrive in the hardest of places
She was proud of to be the littlest tree
and so should we