Trees...soon soon now...

Trees...

...soon soon now the sun

will turn its face southward

leaving you to choose the

colors on your palette...

 

...for months it decided

for months its only choice was green

with all its permutations nuances

soft shadows bright edges

dazzling emerald gentle chartreuse...

 

...but soon soon now you will decide

how much of its fire to take on

how many hues your leaves will sport

before the light wanes...

 

...before their journey their graceful exodus

to those waiting below

with tales to tell of

their own brief roles as facets

in the gem we call autumn...

Trees...it's as if you all pulled up stakes...

Trees...

....it's as if you all pulled up stakes

and followed me here

always knowing where to find me

where you

or your kin

continue to assure me

that my days will never

lack you

that my love for you

has not gone unnoticed.

　

Still now after all this time

after seeing your now abandoned

spots the vast swaths of ground

where you once stood

desecrated

bare now

empty of you

of your lush

majestic and sage

presences.

　

But then I slip out of bed

and there you are outside my window

beckoning like some playful friend

eager to commiserate here

of all places

where to others

to those who think

that fewer of you would be

preferable

just something

to be taken down

that more light is better

and that some of you

lean just a little too far

for comfort.

　

Your topmost leaves

tremble in the late-summer breeze

fill the large gap

that my leaving you

not once but twice

created but how silly of me

to fret for even just a moment

that you aren't capable of this

of healing this wound

of once again

filling my days.

　

　

Trees....I go to you

Trees...

I go to you

as to no others

my shame exposed

my finiteness revealed

I bow before

your kind

who have known

the angst

of ages

been toppled

in the name

of progress

uprooted

for beauty's sake

you who are

beauty incarnate

who welcome

my imperfection

my crude exterior

that you pierce

continually

to make me

yours

　

always

you speak without words

not like we

with our sounds

and inadequate

sentiment

you speak

with leaves

with sighs

and stirrings

with bits of light

that come together

into thought

idea

warning

　

telling stories

sharing secrets

revealing truths

known only to you

standing

as you have

these ages

patient

resigned

the wind

the sun

the rain

and birds

your only friends

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

Trees...where you are

...is where I belong where 

your leaves filter

the impurities that come at me

daily where you cast it all

to the four winds

where none of it matters

where the rain dilutes

and devalues where

evil disintegrates into

just more particles

that fall to earth

as food for worms

and other crawling things.

Here beneath your

sheltering arms I am

as untouchable as you are

and will like you one day

regenerate as something

no one recognizes

or cares about and when

the saw buzzes or

the lightning strikes

we will meet again

in such a place

where evil holds no sway

where truth lives.


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

Trees...you have no idea...

...you have no idea

what it's like for us

out here living under

our delusion of control

where we move about

arranging and rearranging

our lives

and our worlds

in such a way as

to please ourselves

and enhance our level of smugness

this much righteousness

is tiring after awhile

the endless effort of

asserting dominance

wearying to one who would

much rather wrap herself

around you and grow bark

sprout twigs don leaves

know what it's like

to not have to worry

about any of this

and on rainy nights

to know what it's like

to converse with things

that mostly just stand

about during the day

every day

their tops the only thing

moving their roots

living proof that all things

adapt and that sometimes

yes

they even speak


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

Trees....cloud tears...

Trees

                                   

cloud tears

bathe your leaves

and lacking those

leave your skin dark

stained unimpressive

unsuited to

calendar pages

below which time

passes in numbers

unfurling

like acorn sprouts

　

rainy days

are your days of rest

when you are relieved

of trying to impress

of straining against

the dullness of our lives

of trying to outshine

moon sun and stars

of holding us fast

to our dreams

 

your rings

when bared by the axe

reveal our histories

our journeys past you

through you around you

toppling you in our madness

while you

patient and resilient

stand wordlessly by

 watching

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

Trees....how do I say...

Trees

how do I say

"I'm sorry"

for abandoning you

to another's aesthetic

another's opinion

of your value

in the grand scheme

how to atone

for making your

mass demise

certain

at his hands

I cherished you

and hoped

I'd passed that on

to one whose

 

assurances

 

seemed as rooted

 

as you were then

but something

 

hovering

 

just below

 

the surface

should have told me

all I needed to know

when I signed

your fates

over to him

him

who thought you all

dispensible

do I seek out

others of your kind

in wilder spots

where the chances

of such a one intruding

are slim

where your kind

would uproot themselves

to wage war

against the

saw

against progress

against others

like him

mea culpa

a billion times over

for as many leaves

as have sustained me

or rustlings that

spoke to me

soothed me

moved me forward

through dark places

and whom I ever

thought

I could

leave

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

　

Trees...now that the rain...

Trees

                                                                now that the rain

has had its way

with you

and washed you clean

you put the jeweler to shame

with your brilliance

for no emerald

sings the way your leaves sing

no cut glass

splits the light

as do your eyes that have looked

upon us these many years now

stumbling across your roots

where you began

where you continue

for

what need have we

of anything beyond you

you who though old

are ever young

alive in your transpiration

blessing young ones

springing from

the earth at your feet

your legacy

among the grass

that aspires to your

greenness.

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