I’m a Tree Hugger; How About You?
11/7/08
I’m a Tree Hugger; How About You?
When he heard about my upcoming trip to Maryland for the Sustainable Forests Expedition, a friend of mine loaned me a book, Teaching the Trees by Joan Maloof. In it, the author quotes a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke, “The Way In”:
“… but with your eyes
slowly, slowly, lift one black tree
up, so it stands against the sky: skinny, alone.
With that you have made the world.”
I have made some trees my friends over the years by doing just that. One looked to me like a woman, head thrown back in defiance of fate, arms open wide to embrace life. Another looked for all the world like a dragon, rearing back and spitting fire. Scientifically, I know our minds seek to impose order on chaos, to find patterns where none may exist. But I also know that trees touch more than my rational mind; they are more than schelernchyma, cork and cambium, xylem and phloem. They touch a spot in my soul that needs shade from the sunshine of rationality.
Today’s challenge then… find a poem or other work of literature in which trees play a main role. How does this depiction touch you? For the clueless: check out Joyce Kilmer or Robert Frost.
Labels: tree poetry
posted by Mrs. Scherer @ 1:25 PM
11 Comments:
"lost" by David Wagoner
Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.
and as well, here's some "advice from a tree" by Ilan Shamir
http://www.treelink.org/woodnotes/vol1/no1/advice.htm
This sounds really awesome Mrs. Scherer! Congratulations!!
Thanks, Ashley! What a beautiful poem. I plan to take some time to "stand still" when I get to Maryland.
Think Like a Tree
by Karen I. Shragg
Soak up the sun
Affirm life's magic
Be graceful in the wind
Stand tall after a storm
Feel refreshed after it rains
Grow strong without notice
Be prepared for each season
Provide shelter to strangers
Hang tough through a cold spell
Emerge renewed at the first signs of spring
Stay deeply rooted while reaching for the sky
Be still long enough to
hear your own leaves rustling.
I thought it was a really beautiful poem!
Elisa Colera
You should write a poem about trees Mrs. Scherer!
Actually, I have written poems about trees... I have them at home... when I get back I'll dig them out and post them. Promise not to laugh!
oh yes i am a tree hugger why do some people want to ruin the beauty of mothernature thats what i dont get
Sheldon, I don't understand that either. I could weep when I see a stand of trees that are bulldozed to put up another strip mall. "Pave paradise, put a parking lot" as one song puts it.
ANTHONY FRIAS
THE STRANGE TREE by DAEGAL
The Strange Tree
There’s a strange tree which lives near me,
And this strange tree could not agree,
That if this tree could ever see,
A stranger tree it sure would be.
There’s a strange tree which topples me,
For this strange tree was tall, you see,
And then this tree would use its knee,
To break in three, the clouds who flee.
There’s a strange tree which lives near me,
The northern tree, its branches free,
The southern tree, no limb to see,
For this strange tree, was strange, you see?
There’s a strange tree which I can see,
And this strange tree (against my plea)
Was sent to sea, its roots now free,
And now this tree… A ship is he.
thats very correct why do we need another mall any ways
"Plant a Tree" by Lucy Larcom
He who plants a tree
Plants a hope.
Rootlets up through fibres blindly grope;
So man' life must climb
From the clods of time
Unto heavens sublime.
Canst thou prophesy, thou little tree,
What the glory of thy boughs shall be?
He who plants a tree
Plants a joy;
Plants a comfort that will never cloy;
Every day a fresh reality,
Beautiful and strong,
To whose shelter throng
Creatures blithe with song.
If thou couldst but know, thou happy tree,
Of the bliss that shall inhabit thee!
He who plants a tree,-
He plants peace.
Under its green curtains jargons cease.
Leaf and zephyr murmur soothingly;
Shadows soft with sleep
Down tired eyelids creep,
Balm of slumber deep.
Never hast thou dreamed, thou blessed tree,
Of the benediction thou shalt be.
He who plants a tree,-
He plants youth;
Vigor won for centuries in sooth;
Life of time, that hints eternity!
Boughs their strenth uprear;
New shoots, every year,
On Old growths appear;
Thou shalt teach the ages, sturdy tree,
Youth of soul is immortality.
He who plants a tree,-
He plants love,
Tents of coolness spreading out above
Wayfarers he may not live to see.
Gifts that grow are best;
Hands that bless are blest;
Plant! life does the rest!
Heaven and earth help him who plants a tree,
And his work its own reward shall be.
I like this poem a lot because the way that I interpret it, is that when you plant a tree, you're planting life. Life is hope, love, joy, peace, happiness, and yes all of those things take time to grow, but so do trees. For each tree you kill, that's a piece of each special thing that makes up life, that is dead. I hope you enjoy the poem!
Megan Olsen
Anthony and Megan, I love your poetry contributions. I'm so glad I started this thread... it has introduced me to poetry I have never read before, and it is beautiful.
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