Tag: tree

Alas, a poem for Anne

The wind came up
The field grasses wavered
And bent on their stems
Two white butterflies
Flew through the meadow
Dancing around each other
Floating and flapping on the wind
They made their way
To the western edge
Then one white butterfly
Landed in the grass
And the other flew on alone
To the place where a long dead tree
Leaned on a living tree.

Smiles and kisses
Dreams and schemes
Plans and hopes
Made up this thing
Random lucky breaks
And hard work and sweat

Smiles and kisses
Dreams and schemes
Happy children
Long days and sleepy nights
Words and looks
Things from books

Smiles and kisses
Dreams and schemes
Days of caring
Days of sharing
Lifetime legacy
After all this

Smiles and kisses
Dreams and schemes
Hopes and visions
Small changes
Big changes
Major setbacks
Lived through with grace and stamina

Smiles and kisses
Dreams
Dreams foregone and fulfilled
Schemes aplenty
But mostly simply
Being
Being together
Through all this

Smiles and kisses
Simple joys
Happy dinners
Sons all grown
All of them sharing
Smiles and kisses
Smiles and kisses
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 09/11/13

It’s not about fighting. It’s about being. Therese
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 09/11 13

May 30, 2016
The sunlight belongs to all

Redwood trees of the California Coast have stood strong for hundreds and thousands of years.
When someone visits these incredibly large trees along the “Avenue of the Giants” the lessons to be learned might have something to tell about the local culture and hierarchy.

The redwood groves have layers of climate and environment; micro climates are distinct.
At the base the roots reach out among the trees. And as the roots grow intertwined the trees help hold each other up by their linkage.
The forest floor amongst the redwoods is rich and moist and a place of peace. Respect for age and size and interdependence of each tree on the other trees is experienced here.
In the middle range of the trees there is life among the branches. Birds and mice and flying squirrels move about, living a life in the middle.
In the top reaches of the tree, up among the rich sunlight, the newest growth reaches up. The moisture of the fog as pulled in to refresh the sun drenched branches

The people who are among the top branches of the Redwood Empire may see themselves as the ones entitled to the sunlight, they may feel the fog belongs to them. To be accurate though, the fog reaches the entire tree and nurtures the entire forest. The sunlight belongs to all.

The people at the base of our society are the ones to hold up the tree. The forests is made up of intertwined relationships which form all cohesiveness and collaboration.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 07/30/15

November 30, 2015
rhythm of wood

I’ve been to that tree
twisted in the winds of time
limbs held to the sky
for Mark
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/06/15

I have forgotten more than I have ever known
The rhythm of a life like the rhythm of breathing
The rhythm of steps upon a path trodden by others
Mysteries and experiments in living
Each day a new adventure
And another day of mystery living out
A history made in the rhythm of breathe and steps and life
Assured that everything in life deserves a grateful look *

Warmth of old wood
Light of Spring
Sun
Breathe of wind off the ocean
O’er the short plain and verdant hills
Wind of mystery
Wind that blows through the rhythms of life
Sun that shines on all
Sun that shines this way on only one
One who is lonely
One who is hopeful
One who wonders at the mysterious questions of being
One who feels the rhythm of breathe and steps and life

Blessed by wood from long dead trees
Blessed to know of one who wondered and experimented
Blessed to see the terraces built to preserve the soil of the earth
Blessed in each breathe
Blessed in each step
And stepping on further as the sun shines on
Assured that everything in life deserves a grateful look *

*A line by Patti Trimble http://pattitrimble.com/

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/22/15

March 22, 2015
Light on a redwood tree

Find a place to stop and sit while light and orbit shift
To here and there, or there and here, or where we are to be

Light on redwood bark of a thousand year old tree
Hues of brown and sienna and sepia and coffee

At a point part way down bright glare makes light white and scattered
Masking clear vision of strands of bark as if the tree were tattered

Each strand of life perhaps a soft light of recollection
Lives passed as lives passed, hallowed in loving connection

Images or stories reverberate in time
Spectrum of our lives entwined

Intermittent shadows dark, in time our minds may ease
Like bright memories become diffused histories

Movement of the planet around the sun
Marking time or marking us, each one

Light so bright now gone away
And tomorrow will be another day

Trees do not spend a thousand years in shadow
Despite rain or fog, bright sun will not be laid low

Light so bright deep in a heart
Where to end and where to start

Find a place to stop and sit while light and orbit shift
To here and there, or there and here, or where we are to be

<><><<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 09/17/14

September 27, 2014
Petrified Forest, Sonoma County, California, Earth

Being in a place looking at the ground
Where three and a half million years ago trees were blown down.
Forces in the earth reached up to the sky
Sending shock waves and ashes so mighty trees would lie.
Then resting under the ashy ground
Water seeped until trees it found
Changed were the trees, no longer of wood
Silica seeped in and for ages it stood.

If life changes to stone when left all alone
Do memories turn to magic and sorrows once so tragic
Become the stuff of wisdom and grace
Passed through generations each in their time and place?
Vague beliefs come from ancestors buried long ago
Like trees made of wood in sunlight they grow.
Then history and mystery morph underneath
Into truths now eternal and solid beliefs.

Changed by earth’s power we can reflect on this hour.
Our mothers and fathers walked earth of their time
Finding forests and seas and mountains to climb,
With some even knowing when their days they were done
The only thing they left was their daughter and son.
Passing knowledge like water to become wisdom like stone
Hardening certainty of the truths to be known.
That good and evil are recognized in the fruits of their labor
And striving to be better was what each life or day was meant for
As descendants of descendants we dig the earth to find
A solid heritage formed like stone; we were meant to be kind.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 04/26/14

April 27, 2014