What Is Hidden

If you think about it

it's the things that happen

out of sight, hidden away

that cause the most damage,

feeding on something so

silently—

The tree rotted from the

inside out, silently, while

its crown swayed with

the song of the wind

through so many idyllic days

while we enjoyed its shade.

What else is going on

inside us, hidden away

in our bones, flesh,

hearts and souls?

Hold it off, keep those

opportunists at bay—

hard feelings and anger's

temperings and tightenings,

little closures, passages shut down.

What is hidden can be 

open and free, as

wide as a secret stream

wild and dark underground.

Ask to be full of life, root to crown,

as limber as young trees,

and a spirit and soul clear as

crystalline ice on an alpine peak.