One Valley Oak

The day I died, a village cried and tears washed to the river's side I meant the world, to my survivors A Valley Oak......yes, that was me... A stately tree with history They drew from me a sense of pride Four hundred years, I had sheltered them with limbs that reached up to the sky. I stood my ground, through all the rain They understood, my worth, my veins ran deeper than the eye could see FOUR HUNDRED YEARS!.....Yes, I was old !! And blood turned cold the day I fell You see, I was much more than Oak I spoke for those who've long been gone. I reigned beside this countryside and watched the tribes beneath the sky I saw the white men, take away and claim the ground beneath me, found And soon a way of life would end And I would bend my boughs, to pray Four hundred years, I've overlooked a river bend, below my limbs I watched the steamboats ferry men and saw men die, and saw men rise and saw men carry hope again And those who came so long ago would build a town that grew to know how values and our valiant strides are deep as roots, as mine that grew I was not just a simple tree... I had a place in history... I sat beside a little house One still a treasured artifact Once built along the river's bend, It now sits naked in my tracks without the shade that I had lent The man who lived here, led a state The first to govern, in my shade It is a fact that through the years I've watched and shed a thousand tears What will become of what is left? A town is left, a state bereft But facts can't change that I was here... My roots hang tight to yesteryear They've grieved, and shed their tears for me when winds prevailed, and down I fell I wish them well, and if I can .....I'll try to surge from down within perhaps one root will sprout, and tell my leaves to find the breeze again ____________________________________________________ 8/23/15 Inspired By Tree Personification Contest Sponsor....Charlotte Puddifoot Based on the actual tree that came down in my home town https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_B._Ide_Adobe_State_Historic_Park