What has bent you, <br />Warped and twisted you, <br />Torn and crippled you? <br />What has embittered you, <br />O lonely tree? <br />You search the rocks for a footing, <br />dragging scrawny roots; <br />You bare your thin breast to the storms, <br />and fling out wild arms behind you; <br />You throw back your witch-like head, <br />with wisps of hair stringing the wind. <br />You fight with the snows, <br />You rail and shriek at the tempests. <br />Old before your time, you challenge the cold stars. <br />Be still, be satisfied! <br />Stand straight like your brothers in the valley, <br />The soft green valley of summer down below. <br />Why front the endless winter of the peak? <br />Why seize the lightning in your riven hands? <br />Why cut the driven wind and shriek aloud? <br />Why tarry here?<br /><br />Harriet Monroe<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-pine-at-timber-line/
