POEM - The Seed's Promise

Beneath a blanket, dark and deep,

Where silent, ancient secrets sleep,

A tiny universe is curled,

The future of a waking world.

A parchment brown, a fragile form,

That braves the calm, and rides the storm.

It holds a covenant with sun and soil,

A whispered, unrelenting toil.

It does not see the towering oak,

Or hear the wind's commanding spoke.

It feels the thaw, the sun's first kiss,

A fundamental, primal bliss.

Then from its core, a tendril fine,

Begins to trace a sacred line.

It pushes past the gritty loam,

With all the faith of coming home.

This is the promise, sworn and kept,

While generations, past have slept.

A vow of green, a pledge of rise,

Beneath the vast and changing skies.

It drinks the rain, it drinks the light,

And stands against the darkest night.

It feels the bite of frost and gale,

And still, a stronger root drives, pale.

The stalk ascends, a vibrant thread,

From silent kingdoms of the dead.

It parts the soil, and finds its place,

With patient, unassuming grace.

Then leaves unfold, like banners new,

Of emerald and morning dew.

They capture sun, they manufacture,

A living, breathing, leafy structure.

It dreams in nodes, it plans in shoots,

And pushes forth its latent fruits.

A bud appears, a tight-closed prayer,

That perfumes the expectant air.

Then petals open, bold and bright,

A fleeting, glorious, pure delight.

A beacon for the humming bee,

In perfect, fragile symmetry.

The flower fades, its purpose done,

Beneath the arc of sun on sun.

But in its heart, a fruit takes hold,

A story waiting to be told.

It swells with juice, with seed, with might,

A vessel for the future's light.

It hangs upon the branch, a prize,

Reflected in the sun's wise eyes.

Then comes the harvest, sharp and clean,

A severing, a space between.

The fruit is taken, shared, or stored,

A testament to joy outpoured.

But in its core, the seeds remain,

Through months of sun and months of rain.

They dry and harden, wait their turn,

For lessons they are bound to learn.

The winter calls, a stark repose,

The north wind bitterly yet blows.

The mother plant, her labour done,

Is claimed by frost, by time, by sun.

She withers, brown, and returns to earth,

That gave her such a splendid birth.

A quiet end, a graceful fall,

To answer decomposition's call.

But in the chill and frozen ground,

The promise once more can be found.

Those scattered seeds, in dormancy,

Hold fast to their vitality.

They sleep a sleep that is not death,

But merely a suspended breath.

They wait the signal, warm and clear,

To conquer doubt, to conquer fear.

For in each seed, the code is spun,

Of father star and mother sun.

Of every struggle, every strength,

That measured out its living length.

It holds the map of root and vein,

The memory of sun and rain.

The blueprint of the towering tree,

Lives in its tiny ancestry.

So when the thaw returns at last,

And winter's iron grip is passed,

The seed will stir and start to strive,

And bring its legacy alive.

It does not ask for guarantee,

Of what its final form will be.

It only knows it must ascend,

On that the promise must depend.

It is the past and future's thread,

A line of living, vibrant bread.

A cycle that cannot be ceased,

From greatest giant to the smallest beast.

It is the resilience in the grain,

That soothes the fundamental pain.

It is the answer to the plea,

Of all that yet will come to be.

So when you hold a seed, know then,

You cup a world within your hand.

You hold a vow, without an end,

On which all life can still depend.

The seed's true promise, bold and deep,

Is not just what it vows to keep.

It is the courage just to be,

To grow, against all tyranny.

Short Summary

"The Seed's Promise" is a lyrical exploration of the life cycle of a plant, personified as a sacred vow or covenant with the future. The poem traces the journey from dormant seed to mature, fruit-bearing plant, and ultimately to its decline and the dispersal of a new generation of seeds. It emphasizes themes of resilience, purpose, and the unstoppable force of life encoded within nature's simplest forms. The seed's promise is not merely to grow, but to perpetuate the cycle of life, carrying the blueprint of the past into the future with unwavering faith and quiet determination. It is a celebration of the profound resilience and continuity inherent in the natural world.