Tree 2

(Picture Credit - Cedar by Woodland Trust)

Where life exists

You often find a carpet

Of grass or moss or whatever.

And in sacred groves and forests

You will find

The tree.

The tree: nature’s skyscraper,

Deep roots, hard bark and leafy canopy:

Linking the Underworld to The Heavens.

Looming beauty my words can but strive

To describe.

A tree can live for many an age,

Legends about it, even longer.

Since ancient times the tree has been revered.

The Norse People had Yggdrasil:

A cosmic tree linking many worlds.

Comprehend the Eastern Indian Kalpavriksha –

A jewel of a wish fulfilling tree.

The Peace Tree of the American Iroquois,

And many more.

In West Africa the Oubangui People plant a tree

Whenever a child is born.

The Bible tells of the Tree of Life

And the Tree of Knowledge

Growing there

In The Garden of Eden.

Bow to the Tree Goddess.

Bow to The Tree

Bow to its sturdy bough.

Our tree is home

To many a creature

Nymphs and Dryads too

Maybe.

A skyscraper indeed,

Full of life

Safe in its shade

Some behind walls

Of solid wood.

We lose ourselves

Just looking

At that tangle

Of twisting branches

Spiny twigs and clouds of leaves.

Will it stoop over

And pick us up

With its enormous

Hands?

Or will it just keep playing us

A lullaby

With that whistling wind?  

Oh Tree,

You show such grandeur,

Goddess-like indeed:

Shaken by gales

Yet not disturbed

We trust.

Long Live The Tree –

Even giving us

The air we breathe.

Let your branches spread

While you reach ever upward –

A towering spire.

Paul Butters

© PB 26\5\2020. With due credit to Wikipedia.