Told from the point of view of a tree, the poem follows a life of hardship and survival. The speaker begins underground, where twisted roots hold the memory of past pain, including times of being "burned." Standing in a field among other trees, it feels overshadowed by those whose branches have grown higher. Then winter arrives, and people come with axes to cut away its wood for warmth.
The tree is hurt, and it admits the wounds are bare and the loss isn't fair. Still, it accepts that the harvest was "for the people." The tone isn't bitter so much as weary and stubborn. Readers could easily see the tree as a stand-in for a person who has been overlooked, worn down, or taken from, yet keeps going. The mood moves from sorrow and strain to quiet determination, ending on the simple, firm promise: "I will grow once more."