Ode to Fallen Tree (poem)
- Rei
- 18 hours ago
- 1 min read
some of my most cherished friends have bark for skin and branches for limbs.
Early this morning, I awoke to the sounds of electric saws and truck cranes. I peered out the window to see where the cacophony was coming from and noticed a tree was being sawed apart and then broken down into wood chips. I was hoping to have a serene start to my day, but it was hard to concentrate. Still, I decided the best use of my time was to honor the fallen tree through poetry instead of focus on the mechanical discord...
She was there
just yesterday,
swaying in spring wind without a care
about her height or width or
when her leaves will come in.
This morning, men in machines took her
away
in parts. She didn’t know
last summer would be her last
but serene she stood, shade
or
shine.
Will she ever be elsewhere?
Become pages in a fantasy book or
the facial tissues in a cardboard box
with lime line drawings of leaves? No.
I see her becoming bright blue
origami paper that rivals the skies
her limbs once touched. I’d fold her
into her next life:
a thousand cranes¹—
no longer rooted,
free to fly
e v e r y w h e r e
refers to a Japanese legend where folding a thousand origami paper cranes is believed to grant a wish.
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