Author Information
AN OLD CLIMBING TREE
Growing up there was this tree in my back yard…
She was an oak…it seems to me.
And it’s amazing what I learned about life..from climbing that old tree.
From her branches I would watch the sun rise and set…much to my delight…
As she taught me how lovely is the daytime…and how beautiful the night.
She taught me no matter how daunting the task…not to give up…to never stop
for if you keep on climbing…one day you’ll make it to the top.
She taught me about friendship…her limbs guiding me when things went well…
Supporting me those time I slipped…catching me when I fell.
She showed me how to live in harmony with the land…
that there’s no need for high acclaim…
She taught me how to love a world…where no two trees are the same.
In summer she shaded me from heat…in winter she let sun in to keep me warm…
She taught me If I’m strong enough…I can weather any storm.
I’d find support in her when I was happy…and solace when I was sad.
She taught me never to lose face or heart…that good times follow bad.
She taught be about equality and balance…because when I’d bring friends and we’d compete…
No one climbed her any faster…than Sally from down the street.
She taught me patience, love and kindness…She boosted my self-esteem…
She’s where I learned to trust myself…She’s where I learned to dream.
And though it’s been many years since I last climbed her…
her lessons have remained with me…
lessons I learned while entwined in the branches
of that old climbing tree,
My favorite children's book
My favorite children's book is The Giving tree by Shel Silverstein and this was very reminiscent of that childhood favorite. Great work!
An Old Oak Tree:
You write so very well, at first I was intruged with the length of the poem; as you were discovering the tree - I thought not much can be said about that surely. What is the rest of the poem about; such a good analysis of the tree and comparisons drawn we can only learn through life. What a lovely poem you have written hear, wonderfull and cleverly put together.
http://www.postpoems.org/authours/a.griffiths57
Amazing
This poem is really good. so many complexities of life simplified through the eyes of a young child in her personal place of comfort. I particularly like the line "She taught me how to love a world…where no two trees are the same."
My mother was a rainbow
My father turned her grey
they loved me like a sky lantern
they watched me fly away