Trees
Joyce Kilmer once observed
“I think that I shall never see
A poem as lovely as a tree.”
To this I fully agree
But Joyce was short on their majesty.
We humans wish for treasures rare,
But in what we value we oft err
Gold and silver, scarce in Earth’s ground,
Yet across the Universe, they can be found
But as far as we can see,
No other planet has a tree.
On Neptune diamonds fall as rain
Precious metal asteroids retain
Ye in a universe with vastness untold
Wood is rarer far than gold.
And what do we do with this precious stuff
We turn it into sundry fluff.
Doors, tables, picks for our teeth
Pencils, paper, a decorative wreath.
Entire forests down are cut
For making wipes to clean a butt.
You can travel the stars until you are old
You’ll see planets, galaxies, and marvels untold
Lightning that’s green, a menthane sea
But it is unlikely that you’ll find a tree.
So today, beneath some boughs go sit
Lean back on the trunk and ponder a bit
At just how lucky are we to be
On a planet where there are trees.
