No, not even I was in his tree
but I was still as lonely in thought
when in need of guidance
my ordinary green leaves, still tender
looked up to his climax, and wished
that I was as tall as he
My day would come, I supposed.
Though he died just as I was born
He still guided me well
He taught me quiet composure
and to love my gifts and all around me
and when I feinted a smile
he would remind me that it wasn’t so false
With the smile that only trees could give
He taught me to listen to the wind
and all the directions of it’s rustling
the sounds by which travelled swiftly
The bleat of the lamb, the hoot of an owl
the squeak of a bat, the roar of an engine
and, because I was stationary, I would imagine I was there
So I was the ultimate spectator.
His soul shared so many things
his leaves, though silver, did not mean pure
his existence was not all pure
many regrets, and many a mind forgets
The many things which his tallest branch represented
though, I think he redeemed hisself
Before he departed
Ah, and he sang such ballads in true key
Bass notes steady, treble notes noble
And I learned from them and loved them
as I loved him and all his creation thereafter
i cherished each flake of bark the sapsucker tapped off
No longer him, however, tarnished brown
but it was all memories forever.
His soul scolded me
for the love I gave; for I think
that to have died and still love
must be torture and terror unfurled
I longed to curl my branches
about his gnarled trunk, and sigh
Though I dared not.
In my tree I am above most others
but I was still miles below him, it seemed
I was in no hurry to rise, I was lonely
When his soul was weary of talk
and prophecy, and the owl came to roost
upon the uppermost branch
By morning it would be gone
And that, I believe, hurt him, to be alone
he told me, foolishly and bluntly, of his past
of the bad things he had done
as he discovered he was free, reeling in free thought
" cherish free thought, child, for it doesn’t come easily"
he would tell me when I was asfixiated
By mind block
My mind grew and shaped formidably
I wasn't extraordiary in knowledge
but I was in watching, listening, perception
And I would contemplate so many things
such as my birth and his death
And divine pupose
For surely I must have some purpose
And I grew and grew, my leaves still only green
then I was as tall as he, I saw
but I didn’t let that overcome me
He was still my mentor, and he was dead
I was mature, now, I should have been
but I still strived for simplicity
Hoping it would ease my pain
I was so lonely, up there all alone
to accompany my ordinary visage
And I still loved him ceaselessly
his dead roots shrunk away
as mine grew forwards
but it was not fault of his
It was one day I resolved to be
how close it was to be
between my mentor and I
Who was still only a soul
in a long dead encasement
who cried in his sleep to be released
and sometimes I cried,silently,with him
I swung my branches high in to the air
and in one motion
steadied them, embraced the shadow giver
His brittle bark as soft and he said not a word
as i cast my glanceto the side I had never seen before
And I gasped, unknowing till now
such an answer to my question
Along the side I never saw was a furrow
blackened and deep, running his length
and it made me wonder how he suffered so badly
and kept smiling as he was wont to do
My love, my mentor, I whispered
as I wondered to myself of that bolt
and how Mother Fate could do this.
Then in one mighty crack, he split in two
no side yet falling
and he ley\t out such a gleeful laugh
his soul escaped the clutches of cruel dead bark
and for the first time
he radiated warmth and light
as the heavenly beam had broken the clouds
He was a free soul now, free again
and he caresseed each of my leaves
with one quick brush of his soft lips
"I know your purpose." He said and smiled
"Do as I have done for you,
Give another a shadow" and he departed
And I was deeply moved, then sad.
I cried hard as I looked over everyone else
and my leaves shook and turned brown
my tears rolling down my trunk
dampening the moss at my roots
a mourning dove sang and my tears cleansed the pain
but it never left, my leaves were brittle
and eagles looked from below at my sore sight.
His tree, left behind, gave one final heave
and fell in two, a mighty shock shook the ground
my tree shook and all my leaves fell
from their branches, and I was bare
then I remebered his song
and I no longer sorrowed
I sang the song in a voice undiscovered
and my thoughts lifted, and I grew still taller
the clouds kissed my branches
which harbored new buds
and as I looked at them, I laughed
they grew so quick
and the brilliant sheen of silver shone
From an ordinary tree,
down below, I saw an ordinary acorn fall at my feet
and the struggling sapling lifted it’s still-wet leaves to meet my gaze;
He was a brilliant boy, all of love
and he stood in my shadow
waiting to grow tall, just like me.
