Monday, April 23, 2012

TREES (A-Z April Blog Challenge)

The first poem I fell in love with hung on the wall in my Nana’s house.  It hung there all my life, so I most likely fell in love with it soon after learning to read, around the age of 7 or so.  It hung on the stairway wall on the left hand side, six verses separated into three frames so you read the poem in stages going up the stairs.   
I have loved poetry ever since and the power in the brevity of words (although I recognize that some poems can be quite long).  I don’t mind admitting that I am a total poetry novice.  I like what I like, have written very little of it, and had one poem published in a poetry challenge by Rosebud Magazine.
Each day begins for me with a poem delivered to my inbox from Writers Almanac.  It’s a way for me to start my day with thoughts outside of myself, a glimpse into a moment for someone else, and sometimes, that magical connection that happens when reading it is like looking into a mirror.   
I only knew one of my grandparents and I didn’t have a very strong connection to the one I knew.  But I never think of my love for poetry and this poem in particular, that I don’t think of Nana with love and appreciate the gift she gave me.
TREES
by: Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918)
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.

13 comments:

  1. i know--always one of my favorites too :)

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  2. I've always loved that one, too.

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  3. One of the most quoted trees, I think. Lovely choice!

    Erin

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  4. Lovely poem and beautiful story.

    Kathy
    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com

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  5. So sweet. I think my tree man would have liked it too.

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  6. What a nice way your grandmother thought of to display that poem, Amy! It probably caught your attention in a way it wouldn't have if she had just framed the entire poem. And how great that you remember it as beginning your love for poetry. A strange coincidence happened a few weeks ago on the comics page of our paper: two separate comic strips quoted the first lines of this poem and both asked "who wrote that?" I went to Google to see if it was Kilmer's birthday or something but it wasn't. Nice post, and congrats again on your Rosebud publication ;-)

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    1. Thanks Elaine - and I'll have to do a little search on those comics, taht is really a coincidence. Good thinking that it might have been her birthday. Maybe it was Arbor day?

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  7. I remember having to learn that poem when I was at school!

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  8. I love this poem, Amy! I love the way the tree is personified. THanks you for sharing it!

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  9. That was also one of the first poems I remember reading and 'feeling'. Since then, my love of poetry has grown and expanded tremendously. (no pun intended, but cute!)
    Beautiful memory and well written. ♥

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