The Welcoming

Lined with multitudes along the narrow street
Clapping, cheering, waving
Welcoming me home

Living beams of strength and courage
So tall and stout with their long arms branching forward
Those who were planted before me
Those who’ve survived those arduous winters,
Long decades and all kinds of weather

They line our blacktopped routes along with those of gold
Both the visible and not
Witnesses who’ve celebrated so many changes
Flash their brilliantly colored leaves in fall
While sharing their dainty bouquets of pleasant aroma
Fragranced only in the spring
In summer, they reflect our times of growth and prosperity
Warm, gentle breezes blowing
While simultaneously, waving their emerald shades of green
In winter, they remain stark and dignified
All of life quiets and rests while hibernation begins
Yet elegantly dressed they are
In icy glass beads and snow covered crystals

Oh, the infinitely endless nights, sunrises and sunsets
They’ve either rejoiced or dreaded
No one knows except Him

But they welcome
They beckon me
Onward and upward
To persevere around all sorts of curves, bends and mountainous terrain
While holding signs and cheering,
“Hooray! Hoorah! Yippee I Ay!
You can do it!
You did it!”
And finally once home, “You made it!”

These glorious towers of strength
Existing long before I ever did
They chant, they strengthen, they encourage
They know and they believe

My friends, my family, my heavenly witnesses
Like a great forest and variety of young and old species alike
Perhaps next I will see them dancing
And then, one day, I shall finally join them
The great cloud of witnesses
Strong,tall,vibrant and as real as these trees that line 9G waving me home