Make Like a Tree
Make like a tree
and leaf,
leave behind
what will later be called
your estate.
Look how small
your belongings get once
you see they
are a pile of wood,
metal smithereens dusting
the top like snow.
Make like a tree,
stand over roads, arms out,
peering down at
the little beings
accepting your shade.
Make like a tree,
plant yourself
in the park. Sip light, grow
even as they think
you are finished.
That last line is brilliant. "Sip light, grow
ReplyDeleteeven as they think you are finished." Love it.
Wonderful poem, Hannah. Your voice is distinct, your imagery vivid. I appreciate how you take something most do not give a second thought and use it to offer something profound.
ReplyDeleteThe image of the belongings becoming a pile of wood or metal smithereens dusting the top of person-turned-tree like snow is really wonderful. Those things that will later be called your estate. I love it Hannah.
ReplyDeleteHannah, your poems always touch me, but this one reaches me in a big way. I lost my house this summer. Maybe I'm bringing too much of my personal life into the read. But that's a good thing. It means you speak to each reader individually.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read stanzas three and four, it hit me like a ton of bricks (again, in a good way). “Make like a tree” is right on. Accept the shade and the moment. Sip light and grow. Yes!
I love this poem on so many levels.
Another wonderful poem, Hannah. Like Julie said, though I haven't lost a house, your poem is a reminder that we are more important than our things, or anything to which we've assigned value, when people or circumstance have let us down. "Grow, even as they think you are finished."
ReplyDeleteI love that you play with the kid's saying, "Make like a tree & leave." That saying always made me smile.
ReplyDelete"Sip light, grow
even as they think
you are finished."
I don't think about trees nearly as much as I should. After your poem, I am srsly reconsidering. :)