Fertile ground

My life was a fertile ground  
but bare.  
So I prayed for what was needed --  
the fruits and the flowers --  
and every prayer I made  
planted a seed.

What I could not know  
is how each plant must grow:  
some put out thorns  
before blossoms;  
some are only gnarled wood  
until the first fruit appears.

Now I look around  
at the crazy jungle of my life  
thinking each leaf,  
each thorny branch,  
is a part of something more.