Two Poems – Symphony of Trees & Before They Go

The Symphony of Trees

Wish that I were privy to see

Underneath my feet, the symphony of trees

I pause, listen, even hold my breath

Feeling pulse, rhythm, life stronger even with death

A grove, a gathering group like family talk through their roots,

A community of speaking leaves, a chattering choir in cahoots

Causing me to look up, to seek their chlorophyllic fire

As sunlight filters through

Leaving flickering spires

Before They Must Go

Bark grumbled, hands creaked, arms groaned

Limbs severed that I bemoaned

The storm left wounds needing to be trimmed

This cutting was not a cosmetic whim

It pained me to see my friend cut, exposed

My paper white birch so rudely posed

My sugar maple bleeding tears from a deep well

I heard roots talking, they had stories to tell

There is knowledge contained in each branch

Which must be shared to properly enhance

To embody all of history throughout the ages

They know much more than words written on pages

They sing of souls, of worlds and battles won and lost

They sing of all human decisions and their costs

And the chain saw rips through my heart

I cry at my trees aging, and coming apart

I hope there’s still time to hear all that my trees know

And they will teach their offspring before they must go

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