ode to the departed tree
Dear thief who stole my eucalyptus tree from our front porch,
In your possession is a tree that has been resurrected from near death. Its young trunk and branches, which probably sits in your front yard, took almost two years to mature.
A relocation wilted her leafy coat and then a desert summer toasted her fragrant leaves and branches. But, i coaxed her, told her to hang on, and watered her wounds in the early morning. When the hot weather faded, she gave birth to fragrant new branches. In the early A.M. I’d greet her with a rub of her petals and young branches, praising her on her growth and enjoying the lovely perfume she shared when I filled her pot with fresh water.
How proud she stood enduring the cruel summer that recently passed!
The day before you stole her, I touched her rather gently, spoke to her softly and fixed her drooping crown. I apologized for not seeing her as often as before; told her she was still lovely and her perfume was my favorite smell.
Please take care of her. Plant her softly in the earth; she is still a new mother and has not yet grown out of her wounds.
Sincerely,
A gardener in mourning, as she listens to Quix*o*tic’s sitting in the park .
Stealing a tree is truly a crime against nature. What a bummer!
WendyB
December 17, 2007 at 11:11 pm
A Poison Tree
I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
And I watered it in fears,
Night and morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine.
And he knew that it was mine,
And into my garden stole
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
i. borg
December 18, 2007 at 5:54 pm
gosh, what a sad read. horrible!
kara
December 21, 2007 at 6:40 am
I astonished myself by becoming so upset when someone stole my hanging baskets one year. I had tended them all from tiny little shoots to the most magnificent display. Oh well. I make sure I chain those b*&!ӣ to the porch now.
I have to blogroll your page so I can come back. Lovely stuff.
Narnie
December 21, 2007 at 9:55 pm
How terrible! But how beautifully you write about the tragic event.
Miya
December 22, 2007 at 9:52 pm
[...] when wendy b tagged us for the thinking blogger award this morning, we were reminded of this lost feeling. we actually can’t believe that this lovely ossie clark-wearing extraordinaire would think of us (much less read our post about the departed eucalyptus ). [...]
a heart and a bucket « the ugly earring
January 8, 2008 at 9:39 pm
i hadn’t read this before.
such nice words for such a sad little story.
but then i was thinking,
maybe she needed your nurture,
that is before she went back out into the big world.
maggienikole
January 17, 2008 at 11:23 pm