Strong Roots

For SB

To grow strong roots:

water deeply but not too often.
Plant in full sun but shelter from wind.
Stake yourself to something stable
so you will grow strong and true.
When the time is right, do not be afraid
to remove the stakes,
otherwise you will not learn to bend in the storm
without breaking.
Feed regularly with sunshine, sky, and love.
Know that when the storms come -
and they will come -
you can weather them.
You are not in the same soil as your forebears,
but a soil enriched with your own castings,
your own leaves. 
This rich loam is of you, for you.
It is up to you to shelter yourself
from that which burns or blows too strongly.
All the while, unseen, your roots are growing.
You don’t even know and won’t believe
how strong you’ve become.
And as the storm blows itself out, fades,
and its last drops finally fall, remember that these, too, will
nourish your soil.
And you will open your eyes again
and recognize that although you’ve been battered,
you are still standing,
strong and tall and steady.
And you will know that you are still here,
that your shade exists in contrast with your light;
that the unfurling of the new leaf and the crackle of the golden one
in the wind, these too are of you and for you.
One cannot exist without the other.
Spring will come, but winter first,
and your deep roots will sustain.