An old trail leads from our house up to a waterfall in the woods on Wolfpen Mountain. Twinned basswood trees — also known as lime, linden, or linn trees — stand near the trail, perhaps a century old. The basswood is a soft wood prized by woodcarvers.
Two weeks ago one of them fell after a long slow decline. Its final years evoked many themes from our own lives and our bonds with the earthly life around and within us.
Last night the basswood fell
clean across the trail to the waterfall …..
Bill;
I agree with your other friends comments about how you are so adept at ‘capturing’ the messages Nature has to offer. I have to wonder though, if you have captured Nature or has she captured you?
Happy Easter my friend.
Steve
Bill,
You desription of both tree and trail recalled a vivid memory of walking to the falls. Your capacity to retrieve images creates fondness for mother nature and her wonderful affect on our lives.
Thanks for sharing these moments.
Thanks, Tim. I guess young lovers could resonate with the embrace of these trees, but it’s the wisdom years that yield a poem like this, I think. I’ve cleared the trail to the waterfall now. Back to the waters and the branch lettuce that grows around it.
From the earth we come, grow, and return. Our mother, first and always. Thanks, Bill, for a delicious slice of nature for the soul.
Tim Bachmeyer
Hi, Bill, I’ve been there! At least on that secret trail and would not have known of it without your showing me.
The end of you poem is almost Ovidian, a transformation that reminded me strongly of some of the imagery in Ovid’s Metamorphoses!
Today is my birthday and this lovely poem arrived over my iPad desk to remind me of a happy time in the woods looking at that waterfall! Cheers! Pippa
Thanks, Bill, for “taking us along” in your poem, making us feel we are there on the side of the mountain with you.
Ken