Even Tree's Need Water

 

this is my first writing this year..and it sure has been months since I've opened blogger...

though not much has changed, things seem different when glazed with the pink shimmer of hope for this new year...

the only thing in my mind after finishing up my exam was food and then sleep..that was enough brain work for a day...Alas! , the thought was vain, for my mom asked me to water the plants. usually, I would decline, but then it was so long since I last watered plants that eventually I decided to do it ( though it was also due to the mood mom gave off which slightly implied she was angry and it was always better to not pour oil over the fire ).

And there begins a very simple task - to water the plants...

for some odd reason, I felt happy as I gave them water, it was quite nice to see the water adding a sparkle to the leaves and the soil hastily drinking up all the water I poured. but the beauty of the moment lied in the smell...the smell of rain. 

I was suddenly reminded of an article I read the other day where the author described his plants as his pets and like pets leaving your plants and staying out of the house seemed impossible and whatnot. !... I found it interesting how the author could easily bring life to such normal and boring events in our life.. I would've loved to write like that. though, it's been ages since I have written.

It was quite a hard time, with schoolwork piling up, and assignments to finish..and then there was the slump issue.

though I didn't write incredibly well, I was always proud of my poems..but for the past year..I couldn't write anything properly..I started going blank as I saw the empty page..a feeling as though that the emptiness would engulf me.

and then the guilt over whether I could really write anything new or would I keep writing poems and open up old wounds..

it was all a blur, and for months I've been living in a sort of dazed state, slowly turning into a robot how worked once its keys were set. 

a million thoughts came at once during this small chore of mine ..as I finished up I noticed that I didn't water our mango tree..nor did I bother to water our coconut tree. 

it seems I forgot to water the trees...

I took the hose and went beside them as I poured water and silently apologized to them.

but then I began pondering over the matter and realized. I never quite saw anyone watering a tree unless it's fruiting season and that too rarely...

it seemed as though as our young plants grew, they had to fend for themselves, their owners no longer poured water for them. 

thinking about this fact made me go even deeper into thought. Aren't us humans too the same, once our tiny tots have grown up, we at times forget to water them too...

or it could be the opposite..children forgetting their parents.

it seems inevitable since all of us are busy and have our own wars to tend to..but occasionally I suppose it would be nice to water our trees...

though they have grown up, or grown old ..they're still our trees..and they still long for our company and attention we used to give them as he came home as a measly tiny plant, boxed into that black plastic and the excitement of planting him. 

and then it was all about watering it daily, fertilizers and possible talking..we would often dream of a future, were it stood like a majestic tree, with infinite branches and the sweetest of peach...

and yet once it has grown, we forget to water it.

we forget to dream about it and forget to talk with it...

and as I finished my chore, almost flooding my poor tree's roots as I got too occupied in my thoughts to realize there was too much water..I turned the pipe off and went off for another chore..but still, the thought lingered over my heart..Even Tree's Need Water...

                                             - Lee Hwa Yung