Am I a tree ?

 

If I were a tree

  and I would be growing

            where I was planted

I would not only

                          be shaped

                          from the inside

  but

I would also follow

    the shape

      of all the walls

      of all the barriers

    around me

and my roots

    would also be shaped

    by the

        rocks placed around me

      and by the

          roots of all these others trees around me

          pushing against me

                underneath

      

All these obstacles

    all these limits

          would prevent me

              from growing in their direction

          would be pushing me

      would influence me

          to grow

                      away

      in the other directions

      

And people passing by

    would say

  Oh look at this tree … how crooked and strange it is …

  

Would this shape

      that I would have

          be defining me ?

  Would this shape be me ?

  

And if I had been planted

  somewhere else ?

Somewhere with different walls

  somewhere with barriers on the other side

  somewhere with different trees around

I would have gotten another shape

  wouldn’t I ?

Would this other shape

    also define me ?

  Would it be me as well ?

  

And if I had been planted

    in a place

    with no walls

  and no barriers

      what shape would I have grown to ?

    Would I have grown in all directions ?

    Or only the ones that I would choose ?

    Or all the ones I was meant to grow into ?

What growing shape could would that be ?

Would that be me ?

      Would that be more me ?

  Would I be more of the tree I was meant to be ?

If I were a tree

      I couldn’t find out

  and

      I could only

                          dream

                      about it

                          dream

                      about

                          being planted somewhere else

            and see myself grow

            into what I am

But I am not a tree

    Am I ?

And I could move my feet

    and walk

I could pull

        my roots

      from the ground

          in which they had such a hard time to grow

    and take them

        to another place

  which would allow me to grow

        without hitting all these walls and barriers

Could I ?

What shape

    would I take

                    then ?

What shape

      would I grow into

            then ?

Could I choose the direction of my growing ?

Would naturally follow the shape

        that is me ?

  

And what if

      I was also surrounded by other ones

      who could intertwine their roots with mine

          and help them grow deeper

    instead

        of pushing against them ?

  How more

      could I grow

          then ?

Could that

    be even more me yet ?

  

I …

  Well …

I …

  

I am not a tree

I am a human

A human

    dreaming that he is a tree

    dreaming that he is a human