Old Pine

OLD PINE This wild forest path happening So clearly now remains in mind, Of the many recalled visions Those many visions front and hind Before the dark, dense, distant woods - And towering so over all - This superannuated pine, Last survivor an ancient line, Of some behemoth, sturdy strain, So obscure in mythic annals To having survived without name Its divided trunk wore the slash Of Eden’s earth-born lightning flash. The ground surround yellowed and bare Sunken by undulant root-flare, Orbiting crown set in blue sky, From breathless height, black to the eye. Quite alone the tree and myself Nor mole, woodchuck, lingering elf. From fancy’s overwhelming reach I swear the tree endowed with speech. I could but stand still, listening It’s oft told the charm of silence, The far and near, perfect alliance, Thoughts gathering to focal point, A primal realization, Once-in-a-lifetime sensation. Shiver! Swallow, grasp, hold on tight Truth comes forth, Celestial light! Spoke that gargantuan old pine, “Long before Adam was life mine. Why? - without question by our kind. Enough that we were given birth That HE saw fit to favor Earth. But, with man, the question arose Why? – always answered, no one knows Is Earth the way to Paradise? We have heard that eternal shout – ‘Tell us, Lord, what it’s all about. Oh, why all this struggle and strife?’ “And HE said,” ‘it’s all about life.’