standing like a tree

As I grow from seed
to sapling
The winds are strong
grappling me
To stay planted
and proud
Then the years wear
the rings to the crowd
As I bend and shroud
my secrets with
my branches
Casting shadows
with regrets
The trees that were
my friends all
became my chances
As I grew stronger
than they
Like an oak rooted
deep I did not sway
And became a solitary man
Standing like a tree
to understand
every ring in my growth
And every branch
on my bough
As the winds do not shake me
How I am an oak
Strong and mighty
Through the years
I am rightly
standing taller than the rest
As I firmly fall with the best