Tree – by Jane Hirshfield
It is foolish
to let a young redwood
grow next to a house.
Even in this
one lifetime,
you will have to choose.
That great calm being,
this clutter of soup pots and books—
Already the first branch-tips brush at the window.
Softly, calmly, immensity taps at your life.
(OK… so I know I’m not really supposed to give you the whole poem – but it’s so beautiful and so small and it cannot be broken into two tiny pieces. So, to make up for this, please go read more of Jane Hirshfield’s poetry over at Poetry Foundation).
(photo © Michael Jastremski for openphoto.net CC:Attribution-ShareAlike)
Shelf Elf: read, write, rave. 
THAT. Is beautiful.
I know. I felt like I found a tiny treasure of quiet this morning, in the midst of complete craziness in my classroom. Just what I needed.
I find myself wondering about my choices all the time. Planting a tree too close to the house… great metaphor! Bouncing from calm to clutter and back… that is my life exactly.
I know what you mean about the bouncing from calm to clutter and back – and sometimes, just when I’m feeling life’s out of control, nature sneaks up and reminds me that there are bigger forces beyond my small world.