Six Trees

Some people pretend the years have stood still, others are happy to celebrate the milestones gratefully passed. Lis chose to celebrate. I wrote this poem for my friend aged sixty.

SIX TREES

Walking through a woodland maze, I see you

A sapling bending freely with the breeze.

Slender limbs reach for blue skies,

Your roots seek hidden seas.

Beside a chattering stream, I see you

A willow dressed in flowing green.

Moved to song by sparkling water,

You harmonise its diamond dreams.

In summer’s hazy meadow, I see you

A chestnut, branches draped in home grown cloth.

Children, grass, and flowers, play around you

Comforted by a show of permanence.

On a rock-strewn hillside, I see you

Battling rowan, strong against the storm.

Standing separate, but not alone

Red berries decorate your crown.

Guarded by tall pines, I see you

Red sycamore clothed in autumn leaves.

Your seeds, a twirling party of flight,

Send kindly signals across the land.

Darker now, but still I see you

A birch frozen silver by the moon.

Wearing bright rings of wisdom lightly,

Straight towards the stars you grow.

Some no longer feel the warmth of sunshine.

Some are chopped down, untimely, for the fire.

May green leaves return for you each spring

To bathe you once again in solar power.

Andrew Shephard

May 2014