Answer:
They can be long or short; they can be grown or bought; they can be painted or left bare; they can be round or square.
Tall, I am young. Old, I am short. With life I glow. Anemoi is my foe.
Handy when you need to measure something or run a kingdom.
Makes apples fall from trees
Each morning I appear to lie at your feet, all day I follow no matter how fast you run. Yet I nearly perish in the midday sun.
It flows out of the soil, It burns you if it boils, And holds us in its coils, More valuable than gold, As black as it is old.