
“Stop! Look at me”
How sternly he spoke, the old crooked tree
“You’d just pass me by
With no thought as to why,
All the whispers you hear
As you draw yourself near
To us old, lonely trees
You can hear us say please,
Please listen to our stories
We’ve so much to share!”
“I’m sorry”, I replied
See, I’d not thought of why
As I’m so busy walking
I’ve no time for talking.
I most often I find
To talk slips my mind
And all through the day
I just seem to ignore those who get in my way.
So I said to the tree…
“I don’t walk through these woods to notice the birds
Or to wait for the breeze to carry your words
I take little notice of flowers in spring
Or the feathers that fall from a pigeons wing.
I can’t see the fairies that live in your bark
And the lure of their glow as they brighten the dark.”
“HA!” said the tree, “you can see to great lengths
To witness our world, what a marvellous strength!
Most humans will miss the beauty you see
And you are, after all, stood talking to me.”
I thanked the tree for being so kind
I guess he was right, I was not so blind.
“Come rest in my shade as the sun blares his heat
And take some weight off those travelling feet.”
So I did, I rested and we spoke some more
About the trolls and the fairies and forest law.
“Can you hear me?” a voice that came from afar
“Sure” I replied, “But can’t see where you are?”
“It’s me!” said the dog as he bounded our way
Looking as if he just wanted to play.
Yet it seems I was wrong, as he needed to pee
He cropped up his leg and aimed straight at the tree.
“It happens a lot” the tree did not care
“They all pee on me, from the deer to the hare.”
The dog perched himself in the shade next to me
In silence we sat, to just breathe, just to be.
The dog then said, “No-one hears what I say
My keeper, he walks the same way each day.
Yet I like to roam around places unknown
But I can’t as my keeper would curse and then moan.
So I ran from his sight to explore places new
What fun that I did as I’ve now found you!”
The story continues as next came a horse
“I seem to have strayed from my usual course”
This pleased the dog
“Come sit in the shade
This friendly tree made
We’re talking of nothing,
The best topic of all!”
So, the dog, the horse, the tree and me
We talked as you would over afternoon tea
Is it weird I can talk to a dog, horse and tree?
That I understand them and they understand me?
Three men cycled by, not a care in the world
Their wheels churned the mud as they skidded and swirled.
Up popped a worm, at first sight she looked sad
But her cheeks, they turned red and her eyes, they turned mad
“What’s this I hear?
I’ll make myself clear
I don’t like the sound
As you pound on the ground
It disrupts my day
I don’t like it that way!”
And so said the tree…
“It wasn’t me!
Twas was the cycling three.”
“Ah” said the worm
“I see.”
The next thing you know
There are 5 in this show
And we all sit and chat
About this, about that.
The time soon came for the dog to go home
His keeper came by and gave him a bone
“I thought you’d run off, so I got you a treat
Let’s make our way home and I’ll cook you some meat.”
So off they went, and the horse, he went too
“If the sun were to set, I’d not know what to do!
It’s warm in my stables and I’ve so much to eat
I’ve people to brush me and public to greet”
So off he trot, his head held high.
“It’s you, me and the tree” said the worm to I
“But I’ll have to go soon as it’s getting too hot
If I stay here too long, I’ll go crispy and rot!”
She buried herself in the Earth, digging deep
It didn’t take long before she fell fast asleep.
And so said the tree…
“You’re more than welcome to stay here with me
It’s free in these woods, we don’t charge a fee”
Such words, they are truly hard to resist.
So I stayed with the tree as the sky painted pink
Not haunted by worry or reasons to think.
How perfect this moment, how perfectly free
I’m so glad that today I made friends with a tree.