"How Can I Grow?"

How can I grow

If I have no roots?

I am a limb and

I have been grafted

From an oak tree onto

A flowering peach.

I shall bear no fruit

But I am expected to bloom.

I am expected to give birth

to beautiful, golden peaches.

Having lived on a tree

with which I share no roots,

I am living by the rules set

forth for this tree.

I do not breathe or move

That I do not wonder if I

Shall wrong this tree.

I have found that in the

Spring I am expected to bloom.

I do not bloom.

I would like to be myself, to

grow straight and strong,

As my heart is pulling; but

I am expected to be filled

with golden fruit.

What will I do? I must do what

My feelings direct me to do.

I am an oak. I am not sure

what kind of oak, but I am

an oak. I can feel it in my

heart and in my soul.

I must search and find out what

kind of oak I am.

I must find out

what is to become of me.

I am expected to bear golden fruit.

I will never be able to do such a thing.

But I can become a beautiful chair

or a table grand.

Author: Molly Apperson

A beautiful adoptee friend.