Family Tree

by Stephanie Yarbrough-Quinn

There is much talk about family trees.
So, imagine in your hearts... if I were the family  tree... what  I as the tree might speak. 

Behold...hold on to me for dear life...as I possess a special kind of power.. 
like faith, I yield the substance to bloom... a thousand miles below sea level.  

Come child...spend a while,   inside my tree trunk... you may unearth... 
all your ancestor's teachings... find the answers to... all of your unsolved mysteries. 
I was the one when your spirits were low, I summons the doves to lift up your soul  
...serenade your discontent...with that...  good old negro spiritual... 
ô just like a tree...planted by the waters, I....was the oneö.  

when the egos of men dimmed the sky... I... spruced myself up, 
adorned yellow ribbons around  peek of my fro....as a treaty..  
to honor our family members...who sailed the high seas ..to protect our liberties. 
 
It was I who provided you peace under the cast of my shadow... 
when... mankind turned a blind eye...sat idly by...
enabled the Sons of Rome to rob you of your  birthright...
but we rose up.. like Christ ...shed some blood and redeemed ourselves... 

When Ms.Fortune imposed herself... I kept your bellies full...from the harvest...of my first fruits.. 
And when your children provoked you, I stood firm... to give you direction... 
moaned...like a weeping willow ...rebuked  the thorn from my side...with a branch of olives... 
spare the rod spoil the child

Nevertheless, I  do remember the good times, when you all  gathered around, 
I hung low hover over to witness our daughter's first kiss... 
but I was stumped and my leaves were blazing hot ... when I saw the son's of Abraham.. 
out on a limb with...Jezebel and  Mary Jane... 
but like the sins of Saul ..and the sin's of  Paul.... 
every man will  fall  ...as... Granny's apples... don't fall too far from the tree... 
so when you notice my leaves swaying back and forth in the cool of the breeze...
know that it is the kindred spirits....catching a glimpse and sending loving sentiments

Yet in retrospect and in the midst of a storm...I may trade my souls for a moment ...  
run amuck like wildfire...on a  quest  to scorch the earth ... fall into the hands of the wicked ...
wither away like curses and blessings ..yet the Son of Man...
shall recover my conscious... and a Mother's prayers...shall prevent my self-destruction...   

So child, savor my passion fruits from these old vines and roots that extends 
well beyond the crescent soil's of Mother Earth... pass point of Father Time,  near the shores of the Nile...  
into the promises of Judea... hold on tight to capture...the defining moment... as we FEAST from the Tree of Life ...
in the Garden of Eden.


Family Tree by Stephanie Yarbrough-Quinn

© Copyright 2014. All rights reserved. No portion of this work may be duplicated or copied without the expressed written consent of the author.



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