Ring it in (a poem for a new year)

The bark still looks the same to me
its wrinkles and its moss
it’s just like the same old normal tree
with no clear gain or loss
I see the branches bending up
though now they’re bending bare
but I know well that underneath
are buds being prepared
and roots have reached down
deeper and the trunk slowly
expanded as the seasons
of another year
transform the life that’s planted
and my life is planted, also
and my heart-wood growing, too
and a new ring I have added
for each year
that I’ve passed through
some are thin—just bare survival
some are thick—great with revival
but each year
that I’m still here
I’ll ring it in
like the old oak tree
ring it in
until the world sees
how the grace that God
has granted
can transform the life
he planted
ring it in