My Tree, My Beautiful Tree

The Oak is called the king of trees,

The Aspen quivers in the breeze,

The Poplar grows up straight and tall,

The Peach tree spreads along the wall,

The Sycamore gives pleasant shade,

The Willow droops in watery glade,

The Fir tree useful timber gives,

The Beech amid the forest lives.

-- Sara Coleridge, from Pretty Lessons in Verse for Good Children, 1834

Today, Poetry on Parade celebrates Arbor Day, from the Latin word arbor, meaning tree. Arbor Day encourages friends, families, and community groups to learn about trees, to plant trees, and to care for trees. The special day originated in Nebraska in 1872; on that first Arbor Day, participants planted approximately one million trees! Today, countries around the world observe the holiday. The date varies by region, depending upon planting season and climate conditions.  We might say that the idea has taken root! 

Tree

Out of the earth

Springs a trunk.

Out of the trunk

Springs a branch.

Out of the branch

Springs a stem.

Out of the stem

Springs a leaf.

Inside the leaf

Are rivers

And oceans

Of life.

-- Douglas Florian

Birch Trees

The night is white,

   The moon is high,

The birch trees lean

   Against the sky.

The cruel winds

   Have blown away

Each little leaf

   Of silver gray.

O lonely trees

   As white as wool...

That moonlight makes

   So beautiful.

-- John Richard Moreland

Our next Arbor Day selection--really one poem in two beautiful languages-- is from The Tree is Older Than You Are: A Bilingual Gathering of Poems and Stories from Mexico with Paintings by Mexican Artists by Naomi Shihab:

Lemon Tree

If you climb a lemon tree

feel the bark

under your knees and feet,

smell the white flowers,

rub the leaves

in your hands.

Remember,

the tree is older than you are

and you might find stories

in its branches.

-- Jennifer Clement

Árbol de Limón 

Si te subes a un árbol de limón

siente la corteza

con tus rodillas y pies,

huele sus flores blancas,

talla las hojas

entre tus manos.

Recuerda,

el árbol es mayor que tú

y tal ves encuentres cuentos

entre sus ramas.

-- Jennifer Clement
     translated by Consuelo de Aetenlund

No matter the time, the place, the language... trees help clean the air we breathe; they provide food, fuel, medicines, and shelter.  And they offer the perfect place to rest, to dream, to read a poem:

Tree Climbing

This is my tree,
my place to be alone in,
my branches for climbing,
my green leaves for hiding in,
my sunshine for reading,
my clouds for dreaming,
my sky for singing,
my tree, my beautiful tree. 

-- Kathleen Fraser