Hug a tree

Early in my college career I penned the following poem:

                Mother Nature strong and pure,
                You're the one will all endure.
                Ever noble, precious and fine,
                Your only misfortune is mankind.

Did I mention I was a sophomore? I must have been in my Joyce Kilmer phase. Speaking of whom:

                                     Trees

                I think that I shall never see
               A poem lovely as a tree.
               A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
               Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
               A tree that looks at God all day,
               And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
               A tree that may in summer wear
               A nest of robins in her hair;
               Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
               Who intimately lives with rain.
               Poems are made by fools like me
               But only God can make a tree.

                         –Alfred Joyce Kilmer (1886 - 1918)

The poem is often abbreviated, edited and quoted (scandalously) as follows:

               I think that I shall never see
               A poem lovely as a tree.
               For poems are made by fools like me
               But only God can make a tree.

Okay the poem is a little sappy (oops!), though it is immensely popular. Many readers must think it was written by a girl (oops, again!). Kilmer was definitely a guy, an American soldier who fought in WWI and was killed in France at the age of 31. The poem is often disparaged and parodied for grins, but let's be fair. It was written at the end of the Romantic era and Fate denied Kilmer the opportunity to take his poetry to the next level.

As for me, I have since come to a deeper and more complex understanding of mankind's relationship with nature. Birds build nests. Foxes dig holes. Humans are no less a part of Nature and are not just crashing the party. And Mother herself can be rather destructive. Nonetheless we must be ever vigilant regarding our impact on the rest of Nature.

As for my poetry... time will tell.

There are numerous tributes to Kilmer, a special one in western North Carolina maintained by the U.S. Forestry Service where, if you have very long arms, you can hug some very old trees. 

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