Lives of the Trees
Dream days beyond good and evil.
Green darkness,
Arcadia.
Giants in the earth,
Song of the sky,
Plants that changed the world.
Heart of the land, teach us to sit still.
With thanks to the authors of the books: Diana Wells, Kenneth Grahame, Friedrich Nietzsche, Anya Seton, Tom Stoppard, O. E. Rölvaag, Guy Murchie, Bertha S. Dodge, various authors edited by Joseph Barbato and Lisa Weinerman of The Nature Conservancy, and Tim Parks. I’m also grateful to Monroe County Public Library for temporary possession of Lives of the Trees, which inspired this poem.