calling all the names–
circles of words and being
woven into life
I greet the oak, the way
its branches frame the sky–
morning and evening
preserving the winter light
holding as shadows
the imprints of birds.
Listen: they begin
the day—robins and blue jays
emerging from the cacophony
of sparrows and starlings–
and here again—my constant
companion, Crow.
We name our streets
after the trees that once stood
there: elm, walnut, pine, maple,
chestnut, cedar, oak. I wonder at
the words, now only images,
memories of a lost inheritance.
Once landmark and shelter,
the empty vertices wait–
listening for the bearers
of seeds to refill
the gaps that echo barren
now, seeking new songs.
For earthweal where Sherry asks us to write love songs to mother earth.
K. 
Ecological poetry at its best. Love the painting also, K.
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Thanks Jade. From my tree phase. I can never recreate something I’ve done before, but I’m sure it will return in a new form. Trees are so beautiful in every way.
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Lovely artwork. I especially like the multiple tree drawing. N.
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I enjoyed this. Over here in Oz developers often name new streets in subdivisions with aboriginal names! We have no idea what they originally meant though.
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Thanks Suzanne. They do that here too with Native American names. A strange habit.
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I guess it’s a kind of covert racism
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Wow, wow. “We name our streets
after the trees that once stood
there”
Those massive multi-species homes, the oaks and more! Glorious poem.
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Thank you Susan. I love trees, and all that they nurture.
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That habit of naming streets after a defunct species is tragic really. Is it guilt?
This is a lovely paean to nature. I especially like the image of the branches bearing the imprint of the resident birds.
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Thanks Jane. It has always struck me as odd that we think names are an adequate substitute for what we have taken away. Like alluding to something makes up for its loss.
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Same as if we put cutesy elephants and giraffes in children’s picture books it will make up for them being extinct in real life.
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Exactly the same.
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What a gorgeous post! Your art is beautiful, and your poem I drank in like cool river water on a hot afternoon. Wow. I especially noted the naming of streets after the trees we cut down to build them. Ouch. We are a strange species.
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Thanks Sherry. We are indeed.
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Such a beautiful poem. I love how you honor ecology with observations of the gifts that birds, trees bestow upon us. Your paintings are wonderful.
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Thanks Myrna. The world will be unbearable if we let them die.
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The illustrations suit the mood perfectly here–green light and shadows, bird and ghosttrees and the patience of the earth. A very rich song.
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(Had to use my FB id–this is hedgewitch)
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Thanks you.
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Love this.
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ThanjsBela. We must take care of our earth.
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Indeed.
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Interesting how the streets were named for the trees that once graced the land. Hopefully, a few still remain or are they just ghosts of yesterday?
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In some cases they remain…but in too many places they are just ghosts.
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I love the artwork, Kerfe, and your love song to trees – you know how much I love them too! I especially like the opening haiku and the way ‘calling all the names’ links to the sad truth in the lines:
‘We name our streets
after the trees that once stood
there…’
I love the greeting of the oak branches ‘holding as shadows / the imprints of birds’.
And you have a crow in your poem!
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Thanks Kim. I used to live in a place with an oak tree outside my bedroom window, and I spent a lot of time watching and drawing it. Always a crow!
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