Friday, November 29, 2013

Trees...at first light...


Trees
 
at first light
 
is when I remember
that you've been there
all night
that you waited
through rain and wind
listening
as the pond froze
snapping its resistance
ostensibly
before succumbing
before showing you
your morning faces
your disheveled wild
winter look
the one I will see
until May
and will somehow love
because
 you will always be there
at first light
waiting for me

 
 

Friday, November 22, 2013

Trees...and there it appears...

One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’ But the olive tree answered, ‘Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and humans are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’ Next, the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be our king.’ But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?’ Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be our king.’ But the vine answered, ‘Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and humans, to hold sway over the trees?’ Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be our king.’ The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’ Judges 9: 8-15
 
Trees
 
 
 
and there it appears
lost in a sea of verses
the inevitable mention of you
who are second only to the gods
in wisdom
even they saw fit to use you
in parables
make of you allegorical
sentient
knowing beings
weeping ever
through your leaves.
 
how many other weavers
of words
have given you voice
shape substance
worth mystery
longevity?
 
fools we are
to think
you merely stand there mute
disinterested
consenting to be
stripped bare each year
knowing in your heartwood
that you will be called
to even greater glory
when the peepers sing
and the days once more
grow long.
 
kings all
serving no one
your place at his right hand
assured
the ancient entish among you
smiling
who have known

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Trees....it has come to this...

Trees

it has come to this
long knowing that today
is all we have
for tomorrow will mark
the end
of your sojourn on this earth
of your towering over this place
of your watching
your waiting
for what you knew
would surely come
someday
and now it is that
someday
the day when I compose
a dirge that I will sing
silently
as pieces of you are
taken away

pieces of me

as year by year
falls away from you
from us
from your bark
your flesh
your boughs
your arms
your heartwood
your very soul
but you will hear
you will hear

and for you
for us
I will sing
 



Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Trees...in your tears live others like you...

Trees

in your tears live others like you
reflections in a green eye
limpid quicksilver
splitting the day into a million worlds
sees us
 
what we are
as we pass not knowing that
if not for you
there would be no we
 
 
 
 
but the possibilities!
the infinite uncharted depths
in a single drop of you
 
that draw me in
 
pull me down
 
drown me
 
in crystal opulence
 
that will be
 
my undoing
 

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Trees...for weeks now you've waited...

Trees
 
 
 
 
for weeks now
you've waited
buds filled to bursting
redder now as the day's song
grows louder
as light creeps in
between your sepals
tufted gems
opening slowly
imperceptibly
but surely
upon the branch
Maple you are called
whose elixir
fuels spring's passion
sweetens both bread
and air
tempers the shift
before settling once more
in your sapwood
crimson puffs
on dainty twigs
fit for phoebes
and wrens
swaying in a
pond-rippling breeze
warm enough now
for violas and other posies
for your birth on the bough
as that of stars

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Trees...you've shaken your great heads...

Trees
you've shaken your great heads
in consternation
all these thousands of years
at the Great Destroyer
the worm
that tunnels through
the soil at your feet
through men's minds
devouring
consuming
leaving behind
a vast blank black space
where goodness
cannot root
cannot thrive
for such things
need the wetness of tears
the warmth of embraces
tease of wind
and the glimmer of stars
to sprout
to grow
to fill the world
with color
to trim the void
making of it the small
insubstantial
immaterial thing
it deserves to be
you've told us
time and again
you've used the wind
to keen in the night
you've quaked and trembled
offered yourselves as
sacrifice as restitution
atonement for wrongs
you yourselves
were never guilty of
could never be
held accountable for
and all you ask
all you ever ask
is one small thing
that we not wonder
if you shed your leaves
 
sooner
 
this year
 


 
 


Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Tree...you are not flesh and blood..


Tree
 
 
you are not flesh and blood
yet you bleed
redeemed by your very presence
and unquestioning nature
while I
eternal doubter
marvel at the single drop
each blossom
sheds for my sins

or are they tears
at my christening
whereby I am cleansed
anew washed clean
because of a promise
written in blood
wine mixed with water
to soften its edge
to ease my culpability
 
or is it both
for one cannot be
without the other
he could not have bled
on you
been torn apart
on you
redeemed me from your height
had he not first
blessed the sea
had you not first




Friday, April 5, 2013

Trees...you are the earth's stole...

Trees
 
you are the earth's stole
draped about her shoulders
as drunk on moonshine
or sun-crazed
she points and pirouettes
through the void
her heart
filled to bursting
 
she wears you well
tucks you in here
demurely
drapes you there
seductively
but always with grace
with good taste
never out of fashion
 

and then
at night
the gilded chariots gone
the blue song stilled
the sea floor cleared
she
pulls you in tight
against the chill
against icy stars
falling about her
catching in you
making of you

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Trees...your baubles...

Trees

your baubles



strewn across your velvet

are many

you wear them well

jay blue







and cardinal red

finch gold

bunting indigo

raven ebony

the pearl

of an eagle's crown

cling to fingers

and wrists

scatter across

sky and earth

along branch and twig

rhinestones

restless crystals

living gems

hungry for light

as you are

dip dive

soar sparkle

and sometimes

even sing



https://www.amazon.com/Rachel-Lovejoy/e/B00JJ259DS

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Trees...you are patient as saints...

Trees



you are patient

as saints

perseverant

valiant

beneath your burdens

of snow

bending at the wind's will

and other times

still straight

and inscrutable

as a thought

that never found voice

never saw the light of day




but you
who have seen many days
and much light
many nights stars moons
 
that shone on ancient deeds
and things
no longer remembered
bore it all
locked it away in rings
that multiplied each year
how many springs
unto old age





long you wait

and persevere

and with what

quick stroke

will you end

in what dim light

be borne

beneath

the very snows

you carried

uncomplaining

in your laden arms

etchings

against a winter sky


https://www.amazon.com/Rachel-Lovejoy/e/B00JJ259DS