Oak.

He would sit by the Grand Oak tree for hours,
rain or shine, he would be there.
The end of every school day he'd brush past flowers -
pools of colour that would ripple in the wind,
just to indulge in the safety the Grand Oak offered.
The perfect escape from the dark and the unkind.
Nature embraced and nature was embraced,
"A problem is a problem no more only once faced" -
his father's words sat at the back of his mind
as he sat against the Grand Oak.

A fire branded these words to the forefront,
where the flowers were piles of ash before the Oak.
Ravaged by fire, no sign of leaves or life around,
once more a small figure was seen sat upon the ground.
Nature had taken but once before had embraced,
and it seemed to him its last act had been
saying these problems are problems best faced.