{"id":539,"date":"2014-04-11T23:02:56","date_gmt":"2014-04-11T23:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/olioweb.me.uk\/wordpress_marcus\/?p=539"},"modified":"2024-08-19T16:42:22","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T16:42:22","slug":"poem-of-the-month-april-2014-tree-of-heaven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.olioweb.me.uk\/marcus\/?p=539","title":{"rendered":"Poem of the month, April 2014: Tree of Heaven"},"content":{"rendered":"

TREE OF HEAVEN<\/strong>
\n HEMELBOOM<\/strong>
\nfor Alain De Coussemaeker<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I came for comfort to the tree
\n<\/span>and she gladly gave it to me.<\/p>\n

With tiny hands I touched her skin
\nand felt the vibrant life within.<\/p>\n

Body to body, soul to soul
\n<\/span>we hugged and made each other whole.<\/p>\n

‘Relax,’he said ‘And take your time.
\nStanding still is not a crime.<\/p>\n

But don’t attempt it on the street –
\nThey’ll trample you under their feet.’<\/p>\n

A pigeon looks down from the nest
\nit’s making, and takes a rest.<\/p>\n

I sit at the window now and stare
\nat those wild arms waving in the air.<\/p>\n

Then once again, as darkness falls
\nI hug my trees beside the walls,<\/p>\n

listening to what they have to say
\nat the end of a busy day.<\/p>\n

There is great wisdom in a tree,
\neverybody must agree.<\/p>\n

It answers anything you ask,
\nit gives you strength for every task.<\/p>\n

With all their graceful mystery
\ntrees saw the dawn of history.<\/p>\n

Next time you are in doubt or fear,
\ntalk to a tree. It will hear.<\/p>\n

You can tell a tree by its fruits
\nbut nobody knows its roots.<\/p>\n

Our tree-of-heaven meets the sky.
\nI watch a flock of seagulls fly<\/p>\n

out through its branches to the West
\nand on to the Islands of the Blessed.<\/p>\n

Night falls, and the bare branches whirl
\nlike the limbs of a dancing girl.<\/p>\n

I wish I could paint this sight
\nwith the paper on which I write.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Patient and dignified, our tree<\/p>\n

gives a lesson in Humility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TREE OF HEAVEN HEMELBOOM for Alain De Coussemaeker I came for comfort to the tree and she gladly gave it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all","category-poem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.olioweb.me.uk\/marcus\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.olioweb.me.uk\/marcus\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.olioweb.me.uk\/marcus\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.olioweb.me.uk\/marcus\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.olioweb.me.uk\/marcus\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.olioweb.me.uk\/marcus\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.olioweb.me.uk\/marcus\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.olioweb.me.uk\/marcus\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.olioweb.me.uk\/marcus\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}