Reading through the poems of d’Verse I reflected how many poems that use trees as metaphors or simply describing the scene of beauty around a tree. I don’t think it’s a coincidence, humans have always felt a connection to forests and trees. Lacking trees in cityscapes fills many of us with depression.
In nordic mythology for instance the world’s center is a giant tree, Yggdrasil. We are all walking below its branches. It was also common in the farms of old Sweden to have a special tree that you took care of. As long as it flourished the family of the farm would flourish. I’m certain that we all grew up with tales of trees, maybe you could share them here with us. Among buddhists the story of the Bodhi tree where Gautama Buddha found enlightment means that such trees are planted outside most buddhist monestaries.
The trees are also the home for birds and beast of all kind. Mythology is filled with dryad, fairies and gnomes. Treat them well and you prosper, make them angry, and revenge is grim. If anyone is into Tolkien we all remember what happens to the destoyers of trees.
Trees have also provided winter food for cattle, orchards provide us with fruits and honey, and not least, the poets paper was once a tree in a faraway forest.
Trees have been also been used for more sinister purposes through history, hangings and lynchings for instance, and many villages are filled with haunting stories of the old lonely oaks- Just listening to Billie Holiday singing “Strange Fruits” make me shudder when I look at the bare winter branches of winter oaks. I’m sure there is history in those old trees they prefer to forget.
The seasons and the trees are also subjects to write about. Which haiku poet have not written about cherry blossoms? For instance in the haiku by Basho:
The oak tree stands
noble on the hill even in
cherry blossom time
Many of the kigo (seasonwords) of haiku poetry are trees.
The season’s change is a great reason to bring out the palette and use all colors available. Like Emily Dickinson wrote:
Frequently the woods are pink—
Frequently are brown.
Frequently the hills undress
Behind my native town.
Oft a head is crested
I was wont to see—
And as oft a cranny
Where it used to be—
And the Earth— they tell me—
On its Axis turned!
Wonderful Rotation!
By but twelve performed!
I hope I have given enough inspiration to write tree poetry. Let’s make dVerse an Arboretum of tree stories.
My name is Björn, and I’m you host for dVerse Poetics tonight.
- Write a poem and post it to your webpage.
- Enter a link directly to your poem and your name by clicking Mr Linky below
- There you will find links to other poets, and more will join
- Read and comment on other poet’s work, we all go here to have our poems read
- Promote your site and poetry you like on social media of your choice
- Promote your site and poetry you like on social media of your choice
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Welcome everyone… some issues getting the blog-post up — thank you for getting it up.. Here in Sweden we have full winter finally… so now I want to read about trees 🙂
brian miller said:
smiles…you had it set for february 18th…sorry i wrestled control but i knew what to fix…smiles.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Ahh I wondered… in the wrestling I let you win …
brian miller said:
thanks for letting me win…smiles.
claudia said:
haha.. sounds like i missed all the fun…smiles
brian miller said:
bjorn,
i love trees….they find their way into my poems quite often actually…matter of fact in the last week they were in like 3 poems…ha…when i need a relief, the trees are often where i retreat…
fyi…in case i am slow getting around or suddenly disappear…my father in law was admitted to the hospital this morning with internal bleeding….we are waiting on the xrays and ct scan to come back….
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Brian,, you take care of familly first… my thoughts are with you…
Grace said:
I hope it isn’t so bad & he will get well soon ~
anmol(alias HA) said:
I wish for his well being. Take care.
brian miller said:
thanks guys…they are giving him 4 units of blood right now…by the time that is done, hopefully we will know more…will put an update on here once i know…
brian miller said:
update: we will probably not know more until tomorrow…it is affecting several organs internally and they are determining if surgery is necessary….they are keeping him on blood for the night and have a machine that is massaging his legs to keep the blood flow going…
claudia said:
ugh…sorry to hear this bri…. hope things turn out well for him..
brian miller said:
thanks c…smiles.
Victoria C. Slotto said:
Prayers coming at you all, Brian.
Mary said:
Thinking of you and family, Brian!
coalkissed said:
Sorry to hear about your father-in-law, Brian. Please know your family will be in my prayers.
brian miller said:
thnks mary, coal & victoria…smiles…appreciated…
kelvin s.m. said:
…he will do just right, i believe… smiles…. be positive…
brian miller said:
thanks kelvin…smiles…
Bodhirose said:
Sorry to hear this, Brian…healing thoughts and strength for your family.
Grace said:
I used the tree often in my posts as its the first thing I see outside my window ~ Thanks for wonderful post Bjorn ~ Happy Saturday to all ~
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Trees are one of my favorite subjects as well…
anmol(alias HA) said:
Trees, lush green or skeletal, evoke such words which act as the basis of communication between life and nature. A wonderful prompt. Leaves are still rustling here…but in the frigidity of sunless environment.
Happy writing! And have a good day/night. I will be dozing off soon.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Loved your poem Anmol.. trees are so important.,. and it’s so different around the world
claudia said:
smiles… sleep well anmol
Sherry Blue Sky said:
I adore this prompt, since I have always wished I could live IN a tree – you know those cool little alternative dwellings whittled into huge tree trunks? I am all over this prompt and cant wait to read all of the offerings. Yay!
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Living in a tree sounds so cool… I used to wish for adventures in hollow trees as a kid… never found the right tree though
brian miller said:
oo living in a tree would be so cool…those houses are amazing!!!
http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com said:
We had one in the hedgerow at our last house: it made a great den for grandson.
claudia said:
YES YES YES!!
how cool would it be to live in a tree…just for the scent…
lupitatucker said:
I love trees Bjorn. Great idea for a prompt!
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Oh I look forward to read it.,…
Gabriella said:
Good evening, Björn! Thank you for the prompt. I do not include trees as frequently as you do yet I had a look at my blog and found a dozen poems that have ‘trees’.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I know.. we all do include them… sometimes without even thinking… that’s why I wanted it as a prompt–
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I’m at dinner with friends… and borrow their sons computer… now I will head back to rejoin them… Great poetry so far.
brian miller said:
ha. that is awesome…lol…you have to let me know how you asked them to use the computer sometime….smiles….enjoy man…i will be hanging for a bit until we know something…
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Close friends… I used to sit with my phone at 9 Pm … this time I just said I had to be a little bit more engaged…
shanyns said:
In our family I am known as the ‘tree hugger’. Where I grew up trees were scarce, and here where I’ve lived for the last 13 years they grow sometimes like weeds, eager to take over if humans give them a chance. I adore trees! Willows, oaks, maples, spruce, cedar and their scrub cousins as well. This could be a set Bjorn, we shall see what grows! 🙂
brian miller said:
coolio…i have def been considered a treehugger in my day…smiles.
shanyns said:
🙂
brian miller said:
you found volumes and volumes to write about eh? smiles. thats cool…
shanyns said:
yeah I did…:-) Glad you liked it!
http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com said:
There have been many loved trees in my life – I’ve already written about many of them. But after a brief freewrite, this poem came whole, in about 15 minutes. No doubt it will need a lot of editing, but the idea was exciting, so I just let it rip.
brian miller said:
glad you did as it is a pretty cool story…and def one i bet you shared with several visitors to your home…
claudia said:
happy saturday everyone… just coming into the door from a dinner with a friend and will be out on the trail in a minute…
brian miller said:
smiles…happy saturday c…
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Just a brief round after getting home… bicycling through the snowy streets.
brian miller said:
epp….be safe…
Maggie Grace said:
I love trees, Bjorn. Wonderful inspiration. My keyboard is broken but had to write for this prompt. Laptop on my knees just for you 🙂
brian miller said:
thanks for the sacrifice ..using the laptop…smiles….and thanks for dropping over as well…
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Taking a morning rounds laptop in my knee… look forward to your entry Maggie,..
Susan said:
I double posted today. Writing about trees in a tanka format is something I never did before–it raises the spirit while restricting the size of the forest.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Tanka about tree… yes that should work excellent Susan…
mishunderstood said:
As I watched my neighbour behind me cut down about seven humungous and healthy trees, I was so devastated that I wrote a poem about it, a few months ago and posted it on my blog. Can I share this or would you like a new one? 🙂
brian miller said:
yeah, go ahead and share it….
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I would be devastated too… sounds like a worthy topic..
Myrna said:
Trees – such a worthy topic. Thanks for thinking of it and sharing with us.
Victoria C. Slotto said:
I love this prompt but suffering from post-hosting syndrome so I’m linking an old poem I had for One Stop Poetry…hope it’s new to you. The link on Mr. Linky goes to the old one.
I’m trying to remember a poem by Mary Oliver in which she said something to the effect that any poem she wrote had to have a tree or a sky or water (or something like that.) I’d guess I have a plethora of poems I could link. Maybe a new one will come to this poem-blogged brain before the close.
Thanks Bjorn!
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
would be interesting to see that citation… post-hosting syndrome… hmm. we’ll see if will be affected.
Mary said:
Bjorn, so sorry to be late in commenting here. Great prompt. Great hosting from you. I was involved in a family dinner today (which took me away from the internet, for the most part), thus my lateness in making my way around. What I have read so far is very enjoyable…thanks, Bjorn, for prompting and hosting today!
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
family dinners are worthy reasons.. so nice to see you coming in .. and I loved your angle on trees.
hypercryptical said:
Thanks for this most excellent prompt Björn..Big probs with PC – so comments on others will take time. Sorry folks.
Anna :o]
brian miller said:
hope those PC problems clear up for you soon anna….
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
To bad… I have myself so many computers and stuff at home… but I’m kind of a geek in those matters…
kelvin s.m. said:
…thank you for hosting about the trees…. this is one topic i would say i truly love writing about… smiles…
brian miller said:
good to see you friend….
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Kelvin. what a Joy to see you here… I look forward to read your poem.
Abhra Pal said:
Truly there are so many ways the theme could be developed – I used a metaphor and will look forward to how it is received 🙂
brian miller said:
quite the story tonight abhra
Abhra Pal said:
Thanks Brian
brian miller said:
yep.
coalkissed said:
Trees have such wonderful stories to tell. This will be a fun prompt to write. Bjorn your history about trees was fascinating. I won’t be able to write for this prompt or check out everybody else’s until tomorrow. Something to look forward to…
brian miller said:
see you tomorrow…smiles.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Look forward to reading it…
siggiofmaine said:
I am missing everyone’s posts. My blogs go to a “reader” now and I have not adapted to not getting emails and figuring how to find the posts and people I love.
The prompts and posts here were such a part of my life and then with the cold, and ice storm. power outages, I realized that my email list had grown short… took a while to figure out where everyone had gone to !
Will take this time to wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous New Year.
brian miller said:
happy new year to you as well…so power back on for you now?
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Happy new year… so nice to see you.. weather is such a force of nature…
kkkkaty1 said:
Thanks, Bjorn – I’m late for the conversation but love the prompt and wish the best for Brian’s father-in-law…be on the trail soon
brian miller said:
thanks kkkaty…
about to try and get some sleep…will let you know how it goes in the morning…
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Your bartender woke up early and walk around and check everything out.
Bodhirose said:
I love all things trees…such an inspiration…we can learn a lot from them I think… Thanks, Bjorn!
claudia said:
i think what i love most about trees is their soothing calm… we have a forest close by the office and i often go there during lunch to just breathe a bit…
Bodhirose said:
How nice. Yes, they put out a gentle, secure, steadfast energy…very soothing…
rosross said:
I am travelling at present and we are in Namibia. Internet connection is erratic so not sure how many posts I will get to look at. It is also incredibly slow.
I love trees. Always have. I feel so upset when they are cut down although sometimes it must be done.
claudia said:
yep…always makes me sad as well… wishing you safe travels
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
The sight of a fallen tree can move me to tears….
Ginny Brannan said:
Good Sunday morning! Just catching up before going to work–working a three day weekend. (Normally have Sundays off, but filling in for someone today). Love the topic of trees, they’ve been written about or suggested in my poetry many times over the years. Will try to stop back later with something new to share! Thanks for the inspiration!!
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I look forward to what you will bring…
brian miller said:
good morning poets…
half awake here…smiles…
coffee….
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Morning Brian.. Any news?
brian miller said:
waiting…i am at the house with the boys so i am waiting on a phone call…T is out at the hospital…
brian miller said:
alright….two more units of blood and if he is stabilized he can come home this afternoon…and then medication for what is causing it….
claudia said:
ah that is good news…
Raven Spirit said:
Magnificent! Thank you Bjorn.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Thank you.. hope you are inspired.
hannah in-de-tuin said:
Hello there,
I write poetry in dutch but have lately started to sort of translate these into english.
I wanted to enter last saturday, “on looking through a window”, but wasn’t brave enough. Because it is about trees, as mine was last week, I have entered it today. I hope you don’t mind that my posts are half and half.
Very nice story about trees here. And of course I love Van Gogh!!!!
which we pronounce ‘farn choch’, rhymes with ‘loch’ and needs a lot of phlegm 🙂
claudia said:
van gogh is awesome…smiles…and as german is my first language i was lucky enough to understand the dutch version of your poem pretty well…much enjoyed… and nice to meet you…
brian miller said:
welcome hannah…i am glad you dared….smiles…
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Hannah, so glad to have you here.. hope to see more from you,
ds said:
hi,
I love trees and seem to have found a wet druid for this one. Thank you (love that van Gogh too–have never seen it before). Happy Sunday!
brian miller said:
woot…be over in a min…smiles.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Still a few hours left… I will head to bed now… have fun…
Lydia said:
Have a good night’s sleep, Bjorn! Sure loved your prompt because I sure love trees.
seingraham said:
Trees! I love trees and in fact, my first published poems was “The Trees Stand Watch”…later I will post another one (an oldie but goodie that was actually my second published poem…”When Trees Weep”…) By the way, I loved your prompt and all the info you gave…very nice Bjorn.
Imelda said:
There. I managed to write something towards deadline. 🙂 I hope it satisfies the challenge.
claudia said:
ha – def. it does – and i would love to try a cup of this home-made coffee…smiles
ManicDdaily said:
Hey Brian, Claudia, Bjorn–sorry I am so late to the party – I have picked up a bit of flu with all my peregrinations– I have been thinking of Bjorn’s prompt so here’s something. http://manicddaily.wordpress.com/2014/01/20/a-tree-that-doesnt-grow-in-brooklyn/
Liesl Garner said:
Well, drat. I thought this prompt was for Today, but the linky has expired. I saw someone else added theirs to the comment section, so I hope you don’t mind. There must be something wrong with my email – I just got the notice of this prompt and thought the actual day was always Tuesdays.
I’ll check out the rules and find the proper day. Thanks so much!
http://ckfblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/21/picnic-tree/
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Tonight at 3 PM EST we have an open link night – why not link it up there? Great to provide inspiration
Liesl Garner said:
Is it frowned upon to use last week’s prompt for this week? (Thanks)
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Not at Open link night – any poem is perfectly ok 😉 great way to catch up on prompts
Liesl Garner said:
Oh fabulous – thanks. I’ve only done the poetry link one other time, I think. I’m trying to get back in the swing of things.
brian miller said:
look forward to seeing you there…