Two centuries and more ago,
A tempest struck this quiet glen
Which crushed the land with giant's blow
And laid to dust the homes of men:
A mighty pine grew on this hill
Where once a thriving village stood,
But now these ruins are cold and still
Cast down by wind and rushing flood.
The ruined village lay asleep,
Where cottagers made their farewells;
The cheviot and black-faced sheep
Were sent to roam the lonely fells.
And then invading sitka, rank
By serried rank, marched on the land;
So quick they grew, dark green and dank,
Around the pine on every hand.
The stifling forest laid a shroud
Upon the settlement of man.
The mighty pine still stood, unbowed
Where once the laughing children ran.
Then, on a day of searing heat
A bolt of lightning came to earth
Where sky and withered heather meet,
A red inferno had its birth,
And soon the trees were all afire
They could not move to run away,
And like a blazing funeral pyre
The forest changed from green, to gray.
The mighty pine was scorched and seared,
Its needles stripped; but still alone
It stood there like an old greybeard -
And on one branch, a remnant cone.
This cone had opened up its scales,
Responding, in this time of need
Midst smoke, and ash, and stinging gales,
To nature - with one single seed!
Upon the devastated earth
Beneath the charred and lifeless pine,
A tiny seedling had its birth:
And it has flourished there sinsyne.
Through driving rain, the tempest's blast,
And droughts which parched the valley dry
This strong survivor still stands fast,
Stretching strong branches to the sky.
And travellers who shelter here,
Breathe in the beauty of this place
And find new strength, to persevere,
And climb the mountain's rocky face.
Author notes
Joint effort between Keith and Mairi bheag.
The word "sinsyne" in stanza 10 is a Scots word meaning "since that time"
A contest entry
- Vines Intertwining - A Collaboration Contest #75 by Lyndon.
5250 points, ended July 20, 2008, 15 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 6 of 6
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Wonderful rhyme and rhythm in this piece. Life does indeed find a way.
You have told a beautiful and inspiring story in this wonderful verse. Well done.
...and I got to learn a new word to boot.
I love that. 
Thank you for such a splendid entry and best of luck in the judging. ~Pamela 
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You two did a great job with this - a magestic account of how the fire will open the cone enhanced by the visual that the ranking of Sitka spruce with the pine provides. Love that word sinsyne, too.
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How wonderfully uplifting and hopeful this write is! Use of nature's natural urge to survive as metaphor works beautifully in this work. Well done, you two!
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Hope
is what I take from this. Thanks to you both for such a refreshing breath of Scotland's best. Just off now for a sip of the same (Scotland's best, that is!! And until they make haggis smoothies it's a nip for me!!) xx I am, it has to be said, a dublin jewess on my paternal granny's side so, it's shalom so it is auch well. I just won't be european at all because I'm not, n'est pas?. Except that the Breton pipes make me smile of course. Having lived all my life in the M25 corridor, I have to say to you both, 'andsome mate.
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while I was reading your verse, I heard irish music ... songs of loreena mackennit ... I am a zero in history, but I saw some very ancient scenes on my mind's screen ...
I was completely unable to discern the two voices in your poem, you have succeeded to melt your individual voices into one single voice ...
an amazing accomplishment ...
I wish you both the very best in this contest, you will be tough competition for us all ...
marion
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I think this is a brilliant collaborative effort--a strong ballad-like structure, stirring content and a terrific sense of endurance through eons of time (well, a couple of centuries, anyhow) and cataclysmic events. Very well done, Keith and Mairi.
Bill
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