Tree hugging

One of the reasons I picked the neighborhood I did was because of the trees. Mature trees. Two important words in residential real estate. They are a mixture of hardwoods and pines, like the one pictured here from my backyard.

Pines look spare and textural. Sort of the way haikus make me feel. They are spare (few words) and textural (very evocative).

When I was in grade school, we tried our hand at haikus. A haiku is Japanese poetry composed of seventeen syllables arranged in 3 lines of 3, 5 and 7 syllables. I was no good, but I liked it. I won't inflict any on you today. But I will share a favorite poem.

I THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Joyce Kilmer