Trees

Standing up high over the grass,the flowers,the shrubs,

Exerting a strange and powerful fascination.

Accepting the insects and birds that dwell on them,

It’s the Kingdom of Trees,the Heaven of the Garden.

On the red maple’s trunk about five feet from the ground

I see the marks whee Daisy sharpened her claws.

[She died just before Labour lost the Election,1992.

Twenty years from now

Those marks will be 10 feet high.]

A gentle cat,

She found peace in

This green shady garden,choosing which tree to scratch,

Whether to climb into the old apple tree extending its branches far out towards the holly tree

That is the habitation of sparrows,safe and sweet.

Cat could only watch them from her perch.

Oh,what are we doing wasting our lives shopping malls,

When we could take instruction from the trees?

We could take lessons from the birds that dwell there,

And ask the advice of flowers,or directions from honey bees.

What could the ants tell us if we had time to hear.

The garden is a holy place.Trees are good at being trees.