THE OAK AND THE ROSE
by Shel Silverstein
An oak tree and a rosebush grew,
Young and green together,
Talking the talk of growing things —
Wind and water and weather.
And while the rosebush sweetly bloomed
The oak tree grew so high
That now it spoke of newer things —
Eagles, mountain peaks and sky.
“I guess you think you’re pretty great,”
The rose was heard to cry,
Screaming as loud as it possibly could
To the treetop in the sky.
“And now you have no time for flower talk,
Now that you’ve grown so tall.”
“It’s not so much that I’ve grown,” said the tree,
“It’s just that you’ve stayed so small.”
Painting: “Two Gibbons in an Oak Tree” by Yi Yuanji (1000-1064)
Silver Birch Press 
Reblogged this on Teacher as Transformer and commented:
I enjoy Shel Silverstein and found his poetry after I listened to the songs he wrote for the likes of Johnny Cash and Dr. Hook. He had a wit that made me wonder and still does. I wonder what it means to be big? What does it mean to be small?
And as afable it should have a moral:
Grow as you may
forget not from where you stray!
Like so many do, when they grow, they grow away and arrogant, and can’t band to the knees to see the ones they’ve left behind!
May I reblog please?
Reblogged this on euzicasa and commented:
Great fable
[…] The Oak and the Rose, Poem by Shel Silverstein. […]
I LOVE Shel Sileverstein 🙂
Loved it…thank you
Reblogged this on The Blogging Pot and commented:
I was stumbling from blog post to blog post tonight and stumbled across this great poem by Shel Silverstein. He wrote a fabulous book called “The Giving Tree”, which is really worth reading. He has an incredible mind and wit. xx Rowena
I have reblogged this on the Blogging Pot. Have you read his book “The Giving Tree”? It is amazing. Best wishes,
Rowena