Today's poem is written as a request for Missy Dayberry-Avey of St. James, Arkansas. (You do still live there, right?) Back in the early 1980's, Missy and I used to sit around the court square in Mountain View on Saturday nights after the walk-in movie was over and wait for the Hootnanny to end. I think the Hootnanny ended at midnight. I will not tell you how old we were then because I wouldn't anyone guessing our ages, but, suffice it to say, we were just kids. Missy is the first person who is not a family member to request a poem on my blog, so, of course, I hope that I made this one a keeper.
Missy asked if I would write a poem about peace, love, and happiness and to put all of those things in one poem. I do often write about such abstractions, but I really wanted to stay with nature themes that I have been exploring in the latest "set" of poems. I am a very strongly theme-oriented writer. Almost all the poems in Atheist and Empty Spaces are about atheists, empty spaces, or both. I hope that Missy does not mind that I stuck with the nature theme in presenting her request.
When I think about what I am going to write about, I am equally concerned about how I want to present the ideas--the form which they will take. The first idea that came to mind when thinking about this poem was Tennyson's The Lady of Shallot, a fairy tale-like poem that is about art, artists, and public interaction with the artist and art. Tennyson's work is highly stylized and would never be confused with ordinary conversation. I, too, am a fan of high styles. I want my poems about nature to be song-like. I do not want them to mimic ordinary conversation. I find lyrical modes of poetry more memorable and memorizable, which would seem to make them more enjoyable. I suppose readers will ultimately be the judge of that. As always, all that I request is that you enjoy! And don't forget. I do write poems upon request if the request is not too difficult.
Today's picture is of the outlook over Greer Spring that I took when Kellie and I made a hike a couple of week's ago. I have got to get back to taking pictures. I am running out of them.
And So It Grew
I. Birth
An acorn with a woody crown
Let go its twig and tumbled down.
It bounced upon the leafy ground
And rolled into a soggy mound
Left softened by a recent flood.
In darkness did its brave heart swell
Until, at last, it burst its shell
And sent a tendril snaking out
To seek the sun and boldly sprout
Into bright air up from the mud.
The seedling thought,
“I will only do all I can do.”
And so it grew.
II. Peace
It grew as fast as any weed
Augmented by a sibling seed
Who said that peace with all is made
By sharing food and giving shade
And shelter from the sun and rain.
And so the two, but of a mind,
With roots and branches intertwined
Lived tranquilly and heart-to-heart
Until a storm tore them apart
And one was gone and one in pain.
The sapling thought,
“I still can do all I can do.”
And so it grew.
III. Love
The tree’s blithe limbs provided rest
For mating birds to woo and nest.
They sang sweetly in swaying boughs
And affected conjugal vows
In life-long parings like the dove.
The deer and squirrel above its roots
Survived by munching on its fruits
Offered to them summer and fall
With no return required at all,
A perfect example of love.
The young tree thought,
“I’ll always do what I can do.”
And so it grew.
IV. Happiness
Within the broad oak’s cooling shade,
Contented children laughed and played,
Mocking flight upon a tire swing.
Oh! What great joy a tree can bring
With notions and a piece of rope.
The tree enjoyed the play as well
And every day its heart did swell
When creatures of all shape and kind
Within its limbs, arbor, and mind
Gathered to live and love and hope.
The great oak thought,
“I can only do what I can do.”
And so it grew.
V. Death
Through many years, both good and bad,
The oak tree grew until it had
No wish left in its heart to grow
And no desire to leaf out, so
It showed bare limbs to the Spring sun.
The sun, who knew this mighty oak,
Accepted its request and spoke,
“In your duties, you’ve never ceased.
From all of them, you’re now released
And all that you can do is done.”
The wise oak thought,
“I’ll always do what I can do.”
And so its promise grew.
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