These poems about trees appeared in the Weekly Avocet. The photo from Fall Creek Falls State Park did not.
“I think that I shall never see
a poem lovely as a tree.” – Joyce Kilmer, “Trees.”
His full name was Alfred Joyce Kilmer He had published five books and fathered five children when he deployed to Europe at age 31. He was killed at the Second Battle of the Marne and didn’t come home. His poem “Trees” is his most celebrated work.
Joyce-Kilmer Slickrock Wilderness
A winded old man, I climbed as high as I could.
I saw the forest primeval, never cut Tulip Trees.
The state tree of Tennessee, the Tulip Poplar
in an open forest, with space between trunks.
But here they are in North Carolina.
They are a favorite tree of lumbermen,
who may decry the waste of trees uncut,
but I will celebrate this small section of
the Nantahala Forest set aside for generations.
I never made it to the hemlock grove,
equally ancient but giving way
before the onslaught of the woolly adelgid.
Venerable old giants are slain by aphids.
Foresters cut the dead to save the living
at least in this case, and I’m glad I didn’t go.
I celebrate the Tulip Trees of my neighborhood.
They flower each year, green blossoms tipped
with golden red and favored by honeybees.
I remember an old beekeeper who called me
every year, “and how are the Tulip Poplars this year?
Ray Zimmerman, Chattanooga, Tennessee znaturalist(at)yahoo.com
Warren Woods
Nestled among the Michigan dunes
escaping the doom of axe and saw,
the ancient beeches and maples stood,
too large to reach around.
One giant that fell left roots, reaching
upward, revealed a patch of sand.
They sent roots sideways in soil that
should never have grown them.
Yet there they were,
giants among the dunes.
I was young then, and
I hope they still survive.
Ray Zimmerman, Chattanooga, Tennessee znaturalist(at)yahoo.com
A Haiku
Killed by fungus
Mature Chestnut trees are gone
I’d like to see one
Ray Zimmerman, Chattanooga, Tennessee znaturalist(at)yahoo.com
A Tanka
Virginia to Florida
Longleaf pines growing
Outward to Texas
A few uncut stands remain
To house the gopher tortoise
Ray Zimmerman, Chattanooga, Tennessee znaturalist(at)yahoo.com
The weekly Avocet is distributed free by email. Message me if you would like subscription information. It is a journal of nature poetry.
I have a recent memoir piece in Waxing and Waning https://www.waxingandwaning.org/issue-11/how-i-became-a-poet-by-ray-zimmerman-_cnf_/ and an article in The Hellbender Press.
https://hellbenderpress.org/news/wnc-creek-snorkels.
“I think that I shall never see
a poem lovely as a tree.” – Joyce Kilmer, “Trees.”
His full name was Alfred Joyce Kilmer He had published five books and fathered five children when he deployed to Europe at age 31. He was killed at the Second Battle of the Marne and didn’t come home. His poem “Trees” is his most celebrated work.
Joyce-Kilmer Slickrock Wilderness
A winded old man, I climbed as high as I could.
I saw the forest primeval, never cut Tulip Trees.
The state tree of Tennessee, the Tulip Poplar
in an open forest, with space between trunks.
But here they are in North Carolina.
They are a favorite tree of lumbermen,
who may decry the waste of trees uncut,
but I will celebrate this small section of
the Nantahala Forest set aside for generations.
I never made it to the hemlock grove,
equally ancient but giving way
before the onslaught of the woolly adelgid.
Venerable old giants are slain by aphids.
Foresters cut the dead to save the living
at least in this case, and I’m glad I didn’t go.
I celebrate the Tulip Trees of my neighborhood.
They flower each year, green blossoms tipped
with golden red and favored by honeybees.
I remember an old beekeeper who called me
every year, “and how are the Tulip Poplars this year?
Ray Zimmerman, Chattanooga, Tennessee znaturalist(at)yahoo.com
Warren Woods
Nestled among the Michigan dunes
escaping the doom of axe and saw,
the ancient beeches and maples stood,
too large to reach around.
One giant that fell left roots, reaching
upward, revealed a patch of sand.
They sent roots sideways in soil that
should never have grown them.
Yet there they were,
giants among the dunes.
I was young then, and
I hope they still survive.
Ray Zimmerman, Chattanooga, Tennessee znaturalist(at)yahoo.com
A Haiku
Killed by fungus
Mature Chestnut trees are gone
I’d like to see one
Ray Zimmerman, Chattanooga, Tennessee znaturalist(at)yahoo.com
A Tanka
Virginia to Florida
Longleaf pines growing
Outward to Texas
A few uncut stands remain
To house the gopher tortoise
Ray Zimmerman, Chattanooga, Tennessee znaturalist(at)yahoo.com
The weekly Avocet is distributed free by email. Message me if you would like subscription information. It is a journal of nature poetry.
I have a recent memoir piece in Waxing and Waning https://www.waxingandwaning.org/issue-11/how-i-became-a-poet-by-ray-zimmerman-_cnf_/ and an article in The Hellbender Press.
https://hellbenderpress.org/news/wnc-creek-snorkels.
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