Tree of Life – Have You Seen Good and Evil and What did you Think Tree?

Nature prompt in ‘Reciprocal’, the first week of December 2022

A reflection on the slaughter of trees by a lover

Ah tree – giver of life I will have a conversation with you

This is not a poem, it is more of a conversation with the tree in my neighbour’s front garden. Good poetry takes time.

You

Stand and bend

And shudder

All winter long

Bare branches

Knowing they will blossom

You are ever hopeful

I suppose

A little like

The writer

Who waits

For words to come

Because only words can wrap around and heal

And so in spring

You spring to life

Slowly with the coaxing

But not of words

Of what then?

Tree: giver of life

Of sun, and wind and rain….

There is a woman across the road

I have watched her for two years now – since the owner of the house has gone away and she is alone opposite – cross the street - dig up your babies, casting them aside. I counted five this year.

I was displeased to notice that all the little saplings that planted themselves on the lawn up the road have been mowed away too before they thickened, except two, which caught close to the buildings and obstinately grew as if they had nothing but their god-given life to scatter. Well, they have survived…

And still, we crush them and we think we are so clever –

Imagine now those five beautiful trees all nestled close to their mother, still thriving across the street all burnt orange and heavy with autumn leaves, dancing in the autumn breeze, with the sun glinting upon them.

Once, a neighbour who shared the flat next door secretly sawed down the tree in the garden she shared with her neighbour without asking what he thought. I remember how upset he was when he told me. I had planted 6 of my own in our small garden, and he must have sensed I loved trees.

Though I was stupid enough when I sold my house for high gains a few years later to do the bidding of the new landowner and have the old horse chestnut tree cut down before I left.

Even I, a lover of trees thought then that tree could be replaced, until a man passed by, white and elderly, and told me how he had looked forward to the walk past that old tree, and I felt ashamed and stupid.

And when I moved, I planted three cherry trees and one horse chestnut, as compensation, which I watched grow into a sticky bud for three years, until I had to move again and leave those four trees to their fate and hope that someone kinder would look after them for years to come.

What order would you send to heaven?

Would it be like this:

I have planted a field of trees, send the rain now, buckets please?

And do you really suppose the heavens would oblige after they had sent wind all year long this year, 2022, yes, with barely a pause, to distribute all the seeds, which I observed were hanging heavy in every county in England in 2022 (I crossed 6 counties because I have a large and scattered family), then buckets of rain to follow, yes already, so that hundreds of oak saplings sprang out of the grass in ‘No Mow in May’ month that drifted into June in Llandrindod, Wales? Look here and see the evidence as I wrote it then! Reader.

Well, tree, I have planted one of my own again; a hazelnut, six years ago, and two babies have appeared.

They say that you plant a nut tree for the next generation. They say it will not bear fruit for years, and yet we harvested 25 nuts this hot summer.

I will plant a tree for every baby that you lose, dear tree, and…that… that is a promise.

For I know what loss is.

Here is a photograph of the first, a maple. The leaves this year, are orange and red.

A quick aside

Judy Dench has named the trees in her garden after dear friends who have passed. I remember watching her walk around her garden in a short film and thinking, I do hope that when she is gone The National Trust will take on her house and gardens and look after those trees.

Trees are the heritage of generations to come

Inspired by Dr. Preeti Singh on ‘reciprocal’.

One large tree is said to provide a day’s worth of oxygen for four people

Thank you for helping trees

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Shout out to these amazing writers on Reciprocal whose stories I read over the past few days, Paul Walker has frightened away the ‘naysayers’ with a whopping income. Go read for yourself.

And: William J Spirdione who wrote a 2-minute story on nature in ‘Reciprocal’, in response to last month’s prompt, proving that it is never too late for anything, and my favourite line from this is:

“I am gifted, no matter what the temperature”

Hermione. X