RHYMES ON TREES

Through a window in my library

I look at my maple tree.

Its palmate leaves dance with ease

To the music of the breeze.

A few months ago that tree was there.

But its branches were all bare.

The tree was of course just as big

Its branches just many a twig.

Oft with icicles short and long

It was like  a silent song.

With signs of spring, buds they came

Then green leaves they all became.

Plants and trees stand on the ground.

For needs they don’t move around.

The longevity of the trees

Could be decades, or even centuries. 

Trees are tall on plain and mound,

Their spread is deep underground.

Their roots extend generally,

Far from the trunk, seen normally.

We don’t see the microbes that dwell

In the soil, feed the roots so well.

Nature’s wonders surely are

Greater than we picture, oh by far. 

The famous banyan in Kolkata is

Known as Ficus benghalensis:

Trunk cut off, it is held by shoots

That are the tree’s own roots.

Trees have leaves, bear fruits galore

Like prunes, pears, and even more.

Countless creatures routinely do

Thrive on the fruits’ energy too.

Million years ago trees came to be.

They inhale the C-O-2, we don’t see.

They absorb the excess C-O-2.

Trillions of trees sustain us too.

Most people are in towns, but many do live

In forests which also peace of mind give.

Countless plants and creatures, by the way,

Thrive in rainforests that are far away.

Sloths, flying snakes, and birds for that matter

Prefer trees for their homes, as fish like water.

Rainforests host millions of creatures.

This is among their major features.

We chop off trees, and this enables

Building homes, ships, chairs, and tables.

Good that trees have no nervous system.

Or else logging would be hurtful to them.

Without the trees, survive we can’t.

That’s why countless trees we wisely plant.

Our logging lust we sure must arrest

Especially when it comes to rainforest.

Under the ancient Bodhi tree Truths Buddha understood.

Under the spreading chestnut tree the village smith he stood.

Under Woolsthrope’s apple tree came Newton’s inspiration

That an apple fell on his head ’cause of gravitation.

In seventeen hundred and sixty-five the Sons of Liberty

Protested against British rule under a Boston tree.

In eighteen hundred and sixty-one, to hear their Emancipation

Under an oak in Virginia,  freed slaves heard the Proclamation.

All these show the importance of the tree

Some have played a role in history.

We are grateful to these leafy species

Standing tall and sturdy that one sees.