We planted that tree
A few years back
When the nights weren’t endless
And the days weren’t black.

We dug the hole ourselves
With shovels, in the dirt
With soil caking our fingers
And mud splattering our shirts.

Carefully we lowered
Our little sapling into the hole
With tiny, filthy hands
That moved with great control.

We watered it everyday
And with a little sunlight
Our little sapling grew
To be very tall in height.

But along the way,
As our sapling grew
So did I
And so did you.

You began to shut me out,
And leave home late at night
You would return with drooping eyelids
And bruises from a fight.

I watched you from afar
As you left me all alone
And slowly, I began to sink
Into a darkness of my own.

We never saw each other,
We never went outside
Most days I looked outside the window
And stared at our tree and cried.

I watched as the tree we planted
With tender love and care,
Began to loose its leaves
Until its branches were bare.

The weather became colder
And your eyes became more glazed
You walked around in stupor,
Your mind blank and dazed.

Our tree began to droop
Its branches slumping towards the ground
As if it too was giving up
As if there was no hope left to be found.

The days passed by in a blur,
The world all black and white
And soon I stopped caring,
Too tired to put up a fight.

But then one day I looked closely
Outside my bedroom window
And saw tiny blades of grass poking up
From underneath the snow.

And everything outside
Seemed to wake from hibernation
And slowly, I did too,
With great effort and determination.

I dragged you outside that day,
In pajamas, with no shoes
And showed you the green grass
And the sky’s brilliant shade of blue.

You turned to face our tree
And although you did not smile,
The hope in your eyes flared back to life
From where it was hiding all the while.