A tree first brought me the idea of bodhicitta but I didn't get that word until 9 years later

I once planted a liriodendron tulipifera

that my grandmother brought to me as a sapling.

The deer ate it every year and it got mowed several times

but it still grew tall and straight,

until it was too big to be hurt by those sorts of things anymore.

I want my heart to grow like that,
tall and straight,
so it will no longer close
when it is eaten by loneliness,
jealousy, anger, envy.

The liriodendron tulipifera has beautiful glossy leaves --

like large, beckoning hands.
It has flowers like great bowls of nectar --

an offering to the birds and butterflies and bees.

I want my heart to open like that,
as if with large beckoning hands

that can offer great bowls of nectar to the world.