Dichotomy

When I first saw you,

I thought you were a tree,

growing on a mountain side.

Limbs thinning 

as they stretch to touch the sky.

White petals floating on the wind

from the flowers 

there must have been.

No green leaves.

Just brown-orange trunk,

white petals, 

and thinning limbs

on a mountain side.

When I looked closer,

I realized, you looked like a coral

under the sea.

Bright orange 

against the blue-green of the sea.

Specks of white school fish

swimming 

as would be petals in the wind.

I looked once again,

trying to understand.

I see you as a mighty tree.

I see you as a tiny coral.

Which are you?

Tell me!

The great tree 

touching the sky?

Or the small coral

under the sea?

Where is the truth 

in your dichotomy.

— S. Swan