Best Redwood Poems
I was once a little twig with dreams of being a mighty tree
So people would come from all around just to look at me
As the years started to come and go I fell in love with the wind
I would open myself big and wide swaying to the music of my friend
My rings became many and my bark was as red as red could be
Then the day finally came I was the tallest of the tallest trees
I stood tall and I stood proud and everyone knew my name
As my rings continued recording my destiny to fame
Then the fateful day it came my friend and I had a fight
Looking back I can't recall who was wrong or right
I said, "You are but the wind something people can't even see"
" And I'm the king of them all the tallest of the tallest trees"
That night the wind started to howl she really started to blow
And I the tallest of all the trees learned we reap what we sow
My roots struggled to hold on tight but without a soul around
She who had been my dearest friend knocked me to the ground
The loggers came and cut me up then shipped me away
To my soul that truly was a sad and lonely day
Torn from all I knew and loved wishing I didn't have to feel
I was cut into boards and post down at the local mill
Now I'm back here at home just a few feet away
From where my friend the wind and I used to dance and play
I'm the deck on which you stand I lay below your feet
There is a bench made of me would you care to have a seat
Sometimes in life our roles change just take a look at me
The trick is no matter who are what you are be all you can be
See I was once a little twig who became a mighty tree
And now I'm a redwood deck as proud as proud can be
And of my friend the wind she visits me everyday
So I can thank her once again for helping me find my way
Categories:
redwood, forgiveness, friendship, imagination, life,
Form:
Personification
The human spirit needs places where
nature has not been rearranged
by the hand of man
Author Unknown
A metal rail now mocks the space
where a massive trunk once rose two hundred feet,
and a long stairway, and a sign,and a doorway
make up ‘The Stump Hotel.’
As a roadside attraction this once magnificent tree
is more suggestive of an amputee
whose prosthesis
could never recapture the living limb or,
a whisper of the spark within.
Think -of the many who came and stood,
here on this altered stump.
Did anyone look up to see its phantom trunk
rising to the moon?
101 in a ROW contest - 12
Contest Judged: 9/8/2016 10:36:00 AM
Sponsored by: Poet Destroyer A
8th Place
Published in “ PS, It’s Poetry” Anthology available on Amazon.
Categories:
redwood, environment, nature, sad, tree,
Form:
Free verse
The roots of my existence are unique
For unlike other trees of my kind
I was planted by a city street
In a yard, in a town, is where I reside.
I was well cared for in my early years
As I grew up proud, tall and strong
I saw children play, heard laughter and tears
Saw people walk by and cars rushing along.
As time went by, I grew ever so high
Wondering how much higher I would grow
The family in my yard would look up and sigh
As they realized I had outgrown my abode.
I had become stuck in a very real rut
With too little room to expand
My roots cracked the sidewalk, had to be cut
I was surrounded by a concrete land.
Do they not know that I am a grand tree?
That I should live by others of my kind?
For we live in great forests near the sea
Mighty and pristine, since the dawn of time.
Since I am a rare and special tree
I am protected under laws in my state
For I am a glory and wonder to see
Of my pure magnificence, there is no debate.
So let it be known, let it be understood
I deserve to exist, to live and to be
For I am the California Redwood
The world's tallest and noblest of trees.
Written on 8/21/2015
Categories:
redwood, environment, nature,
Form:
Personification
Majestic Redwood
Boughs acsending toward heaven
Kissing the Angels
Categories:
redwood, life, nature,
Form:
Haiku
Triumph of nature, witness of time
Reaching high into to the sky, bursting from natures skin
Everlasting— Sequoia Sempervirens through death and rebirth
Evermore feeding the forest floor.
Categories:
redwood, earth, nature, time,
Form:
Name
Roughened, reddened fibrous shell
Vibrant life still fresh and green
Thickened feet and arms
Embrace the stars and sky
Growing higher every day
Thousands, years gone by
Yet still the old one reaches on
Urged on by the rain and sun
And life that courses up so high
Some time ago a friend, in wind he fell
Crashing to the ground in end
Like thunder shaking all the earth around
The shout went out
He’s gone
His roots jut up in silhouette
A tombstone of regret
Like a wise old sage
The sentinel still stands
How long?
Many others died
In storms and fires through the years
But the old one presses on
The rain dripping down a million tears
So strong and tall the redwood grows
New threats rang out and echoed
Old fellows thundered to the earth
The axe and saws of men
Laid low the works of thousand years
Young ones quickly took their place
And began again the age old race
How long will all the old ones last
They must go on, they’re holding fast
Ocean breeze brings soft melodies refrain
Can you hear the redwood song
They are singing once again
Categories:
redwood, nature, tree,
Form:
Rhyme
The Redwood Forest
Standing tall, tops in the mist,
Red giants from another time.
Remembering the birth of Christ,
Looking now at modern Man.
The forest floor in muted silence,
Filtered light finds the rhododendron.
God’s original cathedral soars,
A place to find peace and beauty.
Walk awhile with past history,
Place your hand upon the bark.
Look up, almost glimpsing infinity,
Look down, see mans tracks upon the earth.
Forests once tracking vast vistas,
Now a rare and silent treasure.
Man’s greed at last held back.
My home, my heart, my hope.
This is repost..thought it would work for the " In the Woods" contest.
Categories:
redwood, tree,
Form:
Free verse
Skies are Blue
Trees are green
I keep on walking round that redwood tree,
I keep on walking around that redwood tree.
I've been walking
For days on end
And I still can't see
The light again.
So I'll keep on walking round that redwood tree,
I'll keep on walking round that redwood tree
I've kept on walking
till I met you
With sea blue eyes
A pretty smile, too.
So no more walking
Round that red wood tree
No more walking down that redwood tree.
Categories:
redwood, faith, happiness, inspirational, life,
Form:
Children play on the stumps of the fallen giants, mocked in death by the glitter of disco lights and the raucous cheers of drunks.
Asphalt long melted round their dead roots where once they hovered over what is today the RV dump station, the lit restrooms, and every car and truck that ever was.
They stood tall and strong and bright in the sun.
Ancient even long ago.
Relics of bygone time.
Even so long ago.
The Ranger will tell you some nights, around a warm fire, on wooden stools, all about it.
Once there were giant trees even here.
They were alive.
Then men came.
Charged with building a civilization.
Powered by smoky manifest destiny
they toppled the great giants
to build banks, message parlors, and prisons.
In their guilt and because of the rage of others, people cordoned off parks where the giants are to be left alone to entertain the children of their enemies.
We drive to them in our shiny cars and carve our lover's names in them.
We record their many moods unknowingly in the digital memories of our smart phones, and share these images in our favorite social medium.
We buy t-shirts at the Visitor Center and listen to advice on which of the many paved roads we might travel to see them best from our car windows as we drive by on our way to lunch.
Back at camp the smoke of many fires makes it difficult to breathe.
The noises of auto camping drown our memories of ancient majesty and remind us it's time to cook a real campers dinner and have some wine before bed.
Categories:
redwood, abuse, betrayal, environment,
Form:
Free verse
The poet begins the reading
'I'm sentimental if you know what I mean.'
'Oh, that's good!'
I thought about this cuckoo hissing
At the Botanical Gardens
He'd also mediated on the stratosphere
That sponge up above
Accordingly, so did I too
Footslogging around the museum
I took a sufti at my phone by the toilets
A headline caught my attention
Liverpool to sack Jürgen Koop
Kooped up in this nightmare exhibition
We came across a giant redwood
The trunk constructed out of metal
To enlighten the children
To prepare them for the future
My son explains his steam engine
A whole troupe of burly men
Black soot and freezing cold snow
Three layers of woollen jumpers
Sod the blast pipe carbon dioxide
Your Austrian Giesl burp
There are bigger concerns
Than soil degradation
Yes, the fireman is wearing clothes
The shoveller is wearing clothes
But the driver is naked
Categories:
redwood, humor, humorous,
Form:
Free verse
On a dusty and narrow path dwarfed by the enormous
redwood trees, which have conquered all of the soft-blue sky;
I walk and I'm astonished by the tallest of them all!
Winter has left and the snows begin to melt away, to invite a lovely butterfly
to perch on wildflowers like aspens and mountain daisies swaying at the foothill;
and right beyond them, granite cliffs gloriously shine like those
northern mountains' peaks dabbed with spring snow;
oh, yesterday they were invisible to the blinking eye!
I stroll underneath groves of sequoia and white fir, and see myself really small;
and these giant trees encircling me, will lament how they shiver when they're cold,
and sad when battered by the storm; how they'll strive for lack of space and sunlight,
but wildfires may cause destruction and leave this forest barren and arid! I fix my glance
upward, and I start spinning and whirling in the stylish manner of an experienced dancer,
and they spin along with me, in a soft crescendo, never falling down with an awkward thud!
I continue walking and admiring the majestic view of a creation, too inspiring and sublime,
which was hidden from these very eyes...to make their discovery more exciting and fun!
Who hasn't seen the redwood trees in my forest? Come along and satisfy your curiousity;
these trees have more stories to tell more than a victorious warrior galloping his horse away;
and for decades, they have seen greedy hands cut them down without regard or mercy...
depleting nature of its internal richness, and when it rains, floods corrode its terrain!
Imagine what the earth will become without any of these, adorning it with a variety of colors;
look closer, some of them are covered with thick lichen, others show a cinnamon,
hard bark, so protect Nature with your best ability and be rewarded with amazing results!
A forest, which displays its wild and natural beauty, is a treasure like my redwood trees!
Entered in Constance La France's contest, "A walk to remember"
Copyright 2009 by Andrew Crisci
Categories:
redwood, imagination, inspirational, peace, sea,
Form:
Narrative
You are tall and strong
my love
Like the ancient redwoods
among the trees of the forest
Living tender and green
filled with the sap of life
Your shadow wherein I stand
does protect from the heat of life
Let me dwell under your branches
my love
draw from your vigor
take my nourishment from your
covering boughs
let me lie beneath your
towering arms
Allow please me to draw
from the power of your stability
among the trees of the forest
my love
Protect me from the showers
the rain , snow , and droughts
of life
Let me look upon you with respect
and admiration
You are outstanding
among the trees of the forest
my love
Pondering a womans needs from a man
Ps 1:3 & 104:16 Song of Solomon 2:3 & 7:7-8
Mk 8:24
COPYRIGHT © 2009 C. Michael Miller
via Duboff Law Group LLC
Categories:
redwood, analogy, husband, love, soulmate,
Form:
Free verse
Eulogy
Sing eulogy, O wind,
Crying out the sorrow,
Howling deep within your zephyr,
For branches where you once entwined
Your restless fingers
Into a joyful melody of rustling boughs
In lyric song;
Hear now, as you pass, only memories
Floating on the air in search of forest arms
Where once the lullaby of giants
Spread like peace at eventide
Over every creature who daily felt
The vibrant, primal heartbeat
At the mystic center sustaining life.
Sing eulogy, O wind,
When you rush across the empty mountainside,
Where once the titans of the century welcomed you
With lofty grace as you orchestrated
Their symphony of seasons come,
Your searching swell frantically seeks for
Playmates of a thousand years;
Your cannot reach out with your arms
To lift the sparrows and the robins,
Nesting in their wombs,
Upon your wings
Nor cool the squirrels hiding beneath their skirts
Of rough, red bark;
The hillsides where you sang with grandeur
Lay as hushed and as chilled as marble tombs
That decorate man’s passing;
Death walked upon these paths
Leaving in deep chilling footprints barren hills to raise their
Voices in a wailing rage
Of mournful sighs on desolated plains and mountain slopes.
Sing eulogy, O wind,
Look upon the sun warmed earth,
Your friends with whom you shared the secret words
Of your song,
Who whispered with your every murmur
By lifting up their giant faces
In gratitude for the winter’s gift of sleep
And summer’s rain,
Lie still;
Your shout of mourning unheard,
Death closes up their ears to all
But it’s eternal dirge
And though you long to caress
Their lifeless forms,
They cannot feel your loving hands
Upon their brows
In a final gesture of farewell
Before they leave their forest arbor
Still abounding with their perfume -
The myrrh of burial for guardians
Whose life protected life
Where shadows intermingled.
Sing eulogy, O wind,
Then weep,
No resurrection for companions
Until the earth revolves
A thousand times
Around the sun
When they repeat refrains of joy
In creation’s pristine voice
With you –
With woodland peers –
Their voices silenced here to ears
That heard their chanting
And now must carry in the silence
Of their souls
A seed of memory
To tell the future’s child
A fable tale of giants
Passing now away.
Old growth redwoods now gone.
Categories:
redwood, environment, eulogy, goodbye, nature,
Form:
Free verse
California redwood tree.
The tallest tree on the earth.
How majestically you stand.
King of the forest.
Robert Pettit for Russell’s Trees Everywhere contest.
Categories:
redwood, nature,
Form:
Dodoitsu
Redwood Ride
I rise, I rise, on a redwood ride,
Pages dropping aflutter;
Clouds cloaking, angels singing
Filling the air with ethereal joy!
Through wings of winsome warblers, I rise,
Through showers of diamond drops, I rise,
On their way to dress diamond lakes.
No weight of worries, light and free.
The horizon hides and falls away;
Colors stripe as soft as a babe’s blanket;
Clouds cuddle against the cool night;
Woes of the world have taken flight.
Come with me on a redwood ride.
(While dozing on the deck.)
Categories:
redwood, dream, fantasy,
Form:
Alliteration