Poetry/Tree/Nature

The Tree Tale

Reciprocal Nature Prompt on My Favourite Tree

I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in summer wear A nest of robins in her hair; Upon whose bosom snow has lain; Who intimately lives with rain. Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree. — Trees Joyce Kilmer

The earth rises. In its wish to scale the mountains, catch the sky. It grows its trunk, the trunks grow its branches, holding the green crown.

It is more than first a seed, then a stem, then a living trunk, and then dead timber. It is a slow, enduring force straining to win the sky. You are welcome in their company when you want to learn strength and patience. It is futile to lament there is nothing beautiful in this world — on the contrary, there is always something to make you wonder of their shape, dance in the wind, and the trembling of a leaf. A verse in nature’s book of poetry, verdant loner yet standing tall on earth bare — welcome to the world of trees.

Instead of narrowing down to One , which will be difficult for me as a tree lover, I expand my horizon and wish to share trees I saw and collected as memories over years.

Trees sans foliage or the ones that never shed, always piques my interest as I look for Beauty in Nothing or the Undying.

As we strolled the roads in Udaipur ,after visiting a fort, this leafless trunk held my attention. The branches arrange in way creating an abstract painting on sky’s canvas.

A walk down downtown Calgery CA, in summer, a treat in nature as the trees rowed by the road greet you with a smile. As I looked into the green cluster, words of John Muir came to my mind,

”between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.”

Famous Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz, once wrote, “Give some tree the gift of green again, Let one bird sing”.

But did he know, birds with a song, always find a branch, however narrow to leave her melody! This serendipity occurred while walking up the sun set point near Virupaksha Temple , Hampi.

“Love the trees until their leaves fall off, then encourage them to try again next year.” ― Chad Sugg

The skeletal remain of the tree almost looked like an outward projection of the story beneath the layer of grass, keeping company to the gone, catching starlight and sprinkling stardust on the dusted bones underground. Stories in nature are not written, they are found upon papers of wind.

Tree, tree dry and green. The girl with the pretty face is out picking olives. The wind, playboy of towers, grabs her around the waist. — Federico García Lorca

A winter afternoon and few hours with the ghosts. The wind whispers to your silence and you hear the trees humming. Free of their green burden, stretching their arteries and breathing in the cool winter air. Probably, a way to ready themselves for the summer job of proving shade and respite from the scorching sun for visitors like me. Located in the heart of city ,Park Street Cemetery, Kolkata, was the largest Christian cemetery besides Europe and America in the 19th Century, which houses Walter Landor Dickens, son of English novelist Charles Dickens’s tomb.

Visiting dead people is a childhood hobby I pursue in my city /country or when travelling abroad.

“Ancient trees are precious. There is little else on Earth that plays host to such a rich community of life within a single living organism.”— Sir David Attenborough

It is one of the most stunning tree experience I ever had.

This tree more than hundred years old, is found to be supporting a terracotta structure, told to be an old temple, dating more than hundred years, stand amidst nowhere in a hamlet, in Mushidabad, West Bengal. As per the locals, the tree never sheds its leaves and the arterial roots hold the terracotta structure like an octopus.

An outstanding story of bonding, community building and simply existing.

This log of wood, part of a tree which got uprooted in a storm many years ago, while visiting a museum park in Murshidabad, looked like a piece of natures art bearing beautiful memories of her parent.

I couldn’t help but keep it in my tree coffer.

I often wonder if an old leafless tree, in a place of historical significance, is nature’s statement of buried yet standing. They surpass the surround green in their beauty in nothingness, roots reaching deep enough to push nourishment through their old bark, giving a reason to live beyond its years, similar to events of the past which find place in the pages of history.I traced this in The Residency, Lucknow during a visit. Nature doesn’t cease to surprise!

“If I knew where my pain lay, I would have told you” — Rabindranath Tagore.

You hear scream in the severed veins and sighs in its silent presence. Found in a Temple complex, while touring Hampi, we were told the tree was axed to accommodate the increased number of devotees which the temple saw of late. I wonder if GOD( or who ever) smiled from upstairs.

If you ask me about my favourite tree , I will close my eyes and choose this one, only if I could tell…

Tree Facts:

And since to look at things in bloom Fifty springs are little room, About the woodlands I will go To see the cherry hung with snow. — A. E. Housman

It is scientist, Physicist, Botanist Jagadish Chandra Bose , of Boson fame, who is credited to have proved that plants have life. His experiments showed that plants suffer, sleep and get excited. He invented an instrument called Crescograph, which could magnify the motion of plant tissues by 10,000 times, apart from being called the father of Wi-Fi, for his work in Radio Communication.

• Trees, we all know, contribute to nature by absorbing Carbon dioxide and releasing Oxygen for air purification.
• They contribute towards climate amelioration, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife.
• Trees are source of food and nutrition to the human race and helps in conserving energy and being a provider of the same.
• In many eco system, they still provide the basis of sustenance.
• A walk amongst the trees can be healing to mind, body, soul.

And to a creative writer/poet like me they appear in my imagination, spreading its arm to provide home to story telling birds:

This is for you Dr. Preeti Singh 😊

Photograph copyright © Monoreena Acharjee Majumdar.

Thank you Dr. Preeti Singh for such amazing Nature Prompts for Reciprocal. Thank you Dr. Fatima Imam for this beautiful collaboration prompt on trees.

Thanks to Yana Bostongirl and Sahil Patel for their effort in building the community here at Reciprocal.

A smell of earth and memory down the lane. A wonderful Tree story by Dr. Fatima Imam is steeped in nostalgia. Excellent read.

A magnificent Purple story of Jacaranda-tree by Neera Handa Dr is not to be missed.

Thank you everyone for your time and visit. You are much appreciated!

Looking for trees led me to an interesting Documentary by BBC .If you have time and inclination this is a must watch: Do Plants have a mind ?!