Tree

A poem for Eleanor

Picture a tree

What do you see?

A tall trunk rising majestically to the sky?

Its leaves forming a canopy way up high?

Or do you see saplings

Planted in a row

Their tender bark protected

To allow them to grow?

Imagine touching the bark of your tree

What does it feel like, is it rough or smooth as can be?

Are you walking in a forest surrounded by pines?

Are their needles beneath your feet,

Softly cushioning your steps in a quiet retreat?

Or are you in the Amazon with lush foliage around

Light at a premium as trees fight to be top

Yet the forest floor scarred with the marks of man

Huge swathes of forest have gone and now logs are lopped

Stripped of branches and bark they are no longer living

Twisted deep or shallow roots to earth no longer clinging

Not needed now to shelter the birds and the beasts,

Dead logs good for fungus and insects and fire

Or furniture, houses, whatever you desire.

Yet trees have long been revered and used in another way

Totems erected to ancestors long passed

Carvings and sculptures in nature often made

A tree often planted to remind us of those

Who in our hearts are still there

Although in the earth they may repose

So if we come to a tree in a wood

Reach out and touch it and a hug could feel good

Trees may outlive us

They form a key role

For life on this planet and the air we breathe in

Cleaning and clearing our bodies they work

So next time a tree you notice and want to touch it

Why not approach it and with joy reach out

Aware of how connected with nature we are

If we cannot touch the tree for our loved one

As it is too far

Yet we can be connected to them in spirit and mind

In forests, in woodlands for you and for me,

We can enjoy the touch of the bark that we see

Communing with the spirt of each and any tree.

Embracing the girth of the tree we have found

Perhaps arms encircle it or perhaps don’t go around

Whichever doesn’t matter since the hug says it all,

Tree when you were a tiny seed I wasn’t here at all.

Allow time for silence and allow time to reflect

Hugging a tree can be a pleasurable activity!

Yet now with Christmas already so near

Into our houses a tree may soon appear

Just for a while we will see its shape and smile

So enjoy this time and when it is over find another tree

Where you can spend a while

Reflecting calmly and proudly that you

Are the person your ancestors would respect too

As you are part of them and they are part of you.

The tree that is planted or felled in its row

Will one day in some way form the source for a new seed to grow

So life will go on and continue true

Live your life as amazingly as any tree wants to.