The Story of Trees

As I approach a milestone date, with several good friends who go back a long way, I wrote a poem about trees.


The Story of Trees


Born of different seeds

Spliced grafted
Planted by chance, by the swirl of the wind
Or the planter's design, growing in proximity
Under the same sun, fed through the same water, filtered up through different roots
Scorched and sodden by season
Pollinated and fruitful in maturity,
Now gnarled and scarred in places
Still growing in the pattern of each species
Each with a reach and a depth
Rooted and anchored for shelter and strength,
For shade, wider than their silhouette
The north wind bends one and the east wind shakes another
pushes us together and pulls us apart
underground talons grip
and ropes and cords and threads criss-cross tightly, holding firm
under shadows overlapping in ever-changing patterns as the sun arcs
and still our stories grow - the axe still seems a long way off.