“ ‘I don’t want my leaves to drop,’ said the tree.
‘I don’t want to freeze,’ said the pool.
‘I don’t want to smile,’ said the sombre man.
‘Or ever to cry’, said the fool.
‘I don’t want to open,’ said the bud.
‘I don’t want to end,’ said the night.
‘I don’t want to rise,’ said the neap-tide.
‘Or ever to fall,’ said the kite.
They wished and they murmured and whispered,
They said that to change was a crime.
Then a voice from nowhere answered,
‘You must do what I say’…
Brian Patten, ‘The Tree and the pool’ in ‘A Pilgrim Way’ (via mattlong)
