Ancient Trees – A Poem
ten-thousand-trees.blogspot.com
This poem speaks for itself and is appropriate for this spring time season. Enjoy.
Ancient Trees
Tall and strong you stood
before Buddha turned
the wheel of Dharma.
You smiled in wisdom
at the birth of Jesus.
How many civilizations
have faded into the ethers
while you still endure?
If you could walk
men would have killed you
so someone named you
General Sherman
35 feet wide 275 feet tall.
Humans, birds,
the four leggeds
make your limbs and branches
homes or saloons
of pleasure and protection.
Immense Redwoods and Sequoias
who can practice your
strength in patience?
Rooted to the earth
towering with life
ceaselessly growing.
Humans dare to fear
for your survival?
You whose limbs kiss the sky
whose roots flourish
and feed the earth
if we would listen to you
maybe we could
learn how to live.
Skywalker Storyteller Works 
Strong piece, Sky. My top fav:
“If you could walk
men would have killed you”–This reminds me of an African adage that says: the tree is not quick in making enemies because he doesn’t travel.
“Humans, birds,
the four leggeds
make your limbs and branches
homes or saloons
of pleasure and protection.”
Enjoy the season. Here we are in the rainy season.
Thanks, Uzo.
Trees are our partners in life! Thanks for the reminder!
Thanks for reading.
Personification in poetry is the useful technique. You can describe an inanimate object, for example very old trees. I like olive trees very much. These ‘seeing’ objects tell so old stories …
Thanks for your observations.
Many trees majestic and grand, many fallen before their time, others ancient, brutalised for science, or run over, destroyed, their stories they hold to share with every ring, their tales, their hopes, their abundance… Loved the poem Sky, trees of any time!!
Thanks, Sean.
Lovely poem, and I know exactly how you feel! I remember seeing a tall red cedar a few hundred kilcks from where I now live. We learned it was over 1500 years old, and the historian who was with us told us exactly what was happening in the world when it was still a sapling. The family and I would return there once a year, as part of a kayaking trip. And from what I read, there’s a pair of trees in Lebanon named the Sisters. At 6000 years of age, they are almost as old as civilization itself! Astounding!
Thanks. Yes, trees are a wonder.