It has been a long, long time since I was given birth
Sprouting from an acorn that took root within the earth
I’ve watched the world around me change as many years went by
And more than once I’ve seen my brothers wither up and die
Through forest fires and blowing winds I struggled to survive
I grew to be a mighty oak tree, tall and quite alive
The woodsmen came with axes and one time I almost fell
I escaped, but my older siblings didn’t fare as well
O’er the years my trunk got thick and my limbs grew wide and high
The tallest of them reached to fifty feet into the sky
I’ve grown to be the oldest of these woodlands living trees
Within my boughs are stored some very precious memories
In summertime I spread my branches wide to make some shade
Many families picnicked in the coolness that I made
The children climbed my branches where they hung an old rope swing
A young man once brought his sweetheart there and offered her his ring
When autumn came I welcomed it with leaves of red and gold
A hollow in my sturdy trunk kept squirrels from the cold
The birds would stop to rest upon my branches strong and tall
As they headed south for winter in the early days of fall
As the winter season came along with its cold and icy chill
I rested deep in slumber with my brothers tall and still
One snowy evening as my friends and I were sound asleep
A poet stopped to watch the snow fall on us dark and deep
The days of spring awakened me with their lovely lilting song
Budding leaves bloomed green again after sleeping for so long
My boughs provided shelter for the birds to build a nest
To hold their tiny babies and give them a place to rest
As time goes by and all the seasons change throughout the years
I stand and watch with wonder as each miracle appears
Proud to be a part of the creator’s master plan
Bringing one of nature’s gifts of beauty unto man
Author notes
Option #2
Written July 22nd, 2005
A contest entry
- OPTIONS (PW ALLOWED) by Rhythm Child.
400 points, ended February 8, 41 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
What did you think
Comments
1 - 20 of 20
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I truly enjoyed this, a beautiful poem with nice rhymes. A very good progression and wonderful imagery.
One of the best write and personification so far.
Thank you for entering my contest and good luck.
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Magnificent Verse!!
Congratulations on another win my Friend
(remind me to not enter any future contests You are in)
j/k
Magnificent verse and very emotion packed...
I could feel and see the images this Beautiful tree
shared with us!
The woodsmen came with axes and one time I almost fell
I escaped, but my older siblings didn’t fare as well
Thank You for sharing a part of Your Heart and bringing
this Wonderous Creation to Life!!
Many blessings to You
Best wishes too
and much love~ Desire~*~
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This poem is very well written. Great job thank you for entering my contest!
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Great tale of a great life, you do the topic a superb justice and it's extremely touching to read. Thank-you for putting this wonderful poem where I could wander past it and be inspired.
Samuel. -
When that certainly is a different viewpoint.
Well done on this , and good luck in the contest!
Kyla -
An absolute pleasure to read
Marg -
This is great you brought to life a subject that a lot of people refuse to see or even speak of brilliant write trees give us life through their fruite oxygen and disolving palutents again a brilliant rite..
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WONDERFUL
Very well done. A warming journey through the eyes of the seemingly inanimate. It's hard enough to put ourselves in someONE else's shoes, so putting yourself in someTHING else's "shoe" puts you a notch above the rest in my book. Your words are filled with environmental awareness, compassion, and a nurturing voice. Once again, very well done.
Personally, I think the ryhming is a bit much for it, as it seems to distract slightly from your words, but past that, I love it. Some subjects require a unified pattern, and some fair better with an open pattern, where there is rhythm, but not necessarily rhyming. I've found that rhyming tends to detract from the beauty of nature. Those are just thoughts from one nature loving poet to another. The meaning is the most valuable part. How you wrote means little esle than your own personal expression. Everyone has a different voice and manner. Just my opinion. I still love the poem. -
This is a lovely piece of work. Its very well written. A nice story to it too. I loved reading it
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Awesome
First of all thank you for entering my contest. I truely enjoyed reading the poem you have entered. I was amazed to see that not only did you show what the tree was feeling after winer had came, but also showed me what he thought through all the seasons. Thank you for following the rules. This poem fitted excellently into the catergory you picked and you even added alittle more for a flare. the rhyming was very good. It flowed well. I swayed through each line without having to stop. Once again excellent job on this and may the best poet win.
M.G. -
wow this was an awsome poem keep up the good work
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Go out and hug a tree
I was amazed to find that the USS Constitution, the oldest Navy ship still commissioned, used the wood of the Live Oak tree to cover its sides. Canon balls could not put a dent in the ship. Not by chance, the ship continues to be called, "Old Ironsides." A live Oak in Austin,Tx, called "Treaty Oak," is over 500 years old. Some jerk poisoned it to impress his girlfriend and half of the tree has had to be removed. These are wonderful trees and I am glad that this poem has honored them. -
ahh, the life of a old tree, how interesting, i like the idea of it though..ahh, if trees could talk.. i wonder what they would say.. probobly tell the dogs to stop peeing on them..lol
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Actually, they like it when dogs pee on them...
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excellent
Beautiful graphic, to vision the poetry. Your words flowed smoothly and it was true a pleaure to read. I love it. Most of my poetry is rhyme. I live in Hawaii, so nature is abundant here and I get out in it daily. -
Trees are special. Acacia trees in Africa spread a chemical that is distributed by the wind when giraffes eat its leafs to warn other trees in the vicinity. The other trees then begin producing a mild poison that will make the giraffes dislike the leafs and avoid the trees. Beside being perfectly capable of defending themselves against attacks, they harbour a wide variety of life; they are nature's cities by themselves. In south-east Asia they also provide residence for spirits that sometimes live in a tree for centuries. When trees have to be taken down for for instance the construction of a house, local people ask the spirits their consent and ceremonies of days follow before the tree is taken down. If a tree is taken down without the spirit's assent, the spirit will haunt the house built on the soil belonging to the tree. Mankind is the only life form against which trees cannot defend themselves. The sickening fate of the rain forest is proof of this. But I guess the foresting upset a great number of spirits there. Thank you for creating and sharing. Good luck in the contest. Take care,
Rage
Edited on Jul 22, 11:03 because ''. -
wonderful
I thought this was a great story poem. it was richly detailed and flowed with rhyme wonderfully. To see the world form the eyes of a tree put a new way to look at the world really. How the animals use the tree and how man can sometimes ruin the natural beauty of things. Great write -
Excellent
you brought the tree alive and with feelings I really believed it as I read it ...it was delight full to read...a change from the love and gloom I have been reading ....peace -
just a joy to read , thank you for writing this work .
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This was a lovely, old-fashioned poem. I enjoyed the imagery and appreciated the reminder of timelessness. It kind of puts our lives into perspective when we look at the old oak tree.
Great work.
Thanks,
Anne
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