Reunion

The familiar spread of your arms
welcomes me home again.
I lean into you, content.

Look, how our once beautiful
stream has widened
revealing its receding banks.

It exposes your gnarled toes
as they grasp at the earth
more precariously than before.

The boughs I used to swing
from hang lower now,
seem a bit more fragile.

Your age has subtly
revealed itself.
If I could count your rings

they would be many.
You carry them with grace
as time has her way.