Our world tree does not hold its court
tall and proud on a plain,
but hides below,
from branch to root,
a world unto itself.

Water trickles into the cave,
the dripping grants new life
to spores and cells,
then larger things,
evolving over time,

who journeyed out, then back again,
with treasures in their grasp,
and from a seed,
the world tree grew,
an unpredicted thing.

Without the sun to dapple leaves,
bright glowing spheres emerged,
to light the way,
to grow the crops,
to feed all those below.

Beneath the roots, a second cave,
sheltered doubly so,
and there light shone,
from underground,
the mushrooms’ moonlike glow.

And over time, inside the cave,
new beings sparked to life,
thoughts and notions
propelling us
to see the world outside.

And so we creatures, shaped from wood,
bearing our crowns of leaves,
ventured abroad
to learn and grow
beneath an unknown sky.

[Dawn Vogel has written for children, teens, and adults, spanning genres, places, and time periods. More than 100 of her stories and poems have been published by small and large presses. Her specialties include young protagonists, siblings who bicker but love each other in the end, and things in the water that want you dead. She is a member of Broad Universe, SFWA, and Codex Writers. She lives in Seattle with her awesome husband (and fellow author), Jeremy Zimmerman, and their herd of cats.]