Lonesome Pines

Cherry

By marandina

Wed, 01 Dec 2021
  • 2668 reads
17 comments
 

For #NationalTreeWeek

 

Lonesome Pines

Snow drifts across a vertiginous Sierra Nevada,

a land of ice-capped mountains and blue lakes,

where vast expanses of panoramic wilderness,

shelter verdant tracts of endless, evergreen forest.

 

Stoic of elders, Methuselah, on a throne of soil

adorned by pine cones as nature’s ornaments

and needles of green for a cold winter’s coat,

ageless sentry of countless, wintertides past.

 

Brown bark flaking, a myriad of insects,

industrious bees thriving in a resinous domain,

hawks, jays and owls alive amongst branches,

red squirrels and bats call pines their home.

 

And as my fleeting years come to a close,

whorls of time watch saplings, timber lumber on,

my bleached bones now turned to dust,

a cycle of life outlived by the majesty of copse.

 

*Pines typically live for up to 1,000 years.The longest-lived is the Great Basin bristlecone pine, Pinus Longaeva. One individual of this species - Methuselah - is one of the oldest living organisms at around 4,800 years old. This tree can be found in the White Mountains of California.

 

Image free to use via WikiCommons at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Nevada#/media/File:DanaFork.JPG

 

Certificate U
Poem
Miscellaneous Poems
Nature

Comments

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Hi Paul,

I'm so glad you've written a poem for national tree week. What a wonderful way to describe the pines beauty and majesty as in that second stanza. You took my breath away with all the different creatures that depend on this amazing living to such a ripe old age pine. 

A great tribute that I very much enjoyed reading. Thank you so much for sharing.

Jenny.

 

 

Submitted by marandina on

Thanks for reading it, Jenny. It was inspired by the wonderful poems being posted for #NationalTreeWeek at ABC. I only have the one entry as they take me so long to draft (I so wish I was more fluent). Glad you thought it was OK. Thanks again. Paul x

 

Submitted by airyfairy on

It's amazing to think how much these wonderful trees have seen, and how insignificant our own puny lifespans seem in comparison. I enjoyed this very much.

Submitted by marandina on

Ah thanks for it, Jane. I wanted to capture how long these trees live for. I don't think people realise pines etc can gone on for 5,000 years and longer. I find it hard to comprehend but beautiful and beguiling. Paul

 

Submitted by marandina on

Thank you for the cherries, ABC Eds. Much appreciated. Paul

 

Submitted by onemorething on

Great stuff, pines are pretty high up my favourites list. :)

 

Submitted by marandina on

Thanks for reading it, Rachel. And thanks for inspiring me to write it with your #NationalTreeWeek project. Trees deserve all the airtime we can give them. Paul

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

You draw the picture of the busy insects, birds, squirrels, bats habiting these sometimes seemingly so silent woods in a lovely, lively way.

Rhiannon

 

Submitted by marandina on

Oh thank you for reading it, Rhiannon. Yes, trees alive with wildlife. Nature at its best. Paul

 

Submitted by celticman on

I often here, I thought it was a dwarf pine. Dwarves don't grow thee-feet a year. There is, of course, Laurel and Hardy's take on it. But your poem somehow reminded me of Humphtry Bogart and The Treasure of the Sierra Madrid (not sure if that's the right title) but I'm sure you know what I mean. A send sof stillness. 

 

Submitted by marandina on

Thanks for reading, CM. Yes, you do get dwarf pines at the other end of the spectrum. It was "The trail of the lonesome pine" the song in the Laurel and Hardy film I was thinking of with the title. I haven't seen that Bogart movie. Maybe I should...

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Agree with everyone else, this :

"Brown bark flaking, a myriad of insects,

industrious bees thriving in a resinous domain,

hawks, jays and owls alive amongst branches,

red squirrels and bats call pines their home."

is wonderful, the line about bees almost buzzes it is so intense, with all the "s" sounds, and "v"

 

Submitted by marandina on

Ah thanks for reading it, Di. Glad it came across as visual. I've enjoyed reading the poems dedicated to #NationalTreeWeek. Paul :)

 

Submitted by Turlough on

This is a great poem Paul.

I love the fact that you have acknowledged that these majestic creatures survive (or should survive) on the planet for a far greater expanse of time than we do ourselves. Perhaps they have more right to be here than we do. We should remember this when we are cutting them down.

I always try to imagine an Industrial Brummie accent when I read what you have written, but it didn't quite work on this occasion.

Turlough

Submitted by marandina on

Ah thanks for reading it, Turlough. Haven't got around to audio on that one yet. Hope you are well. Paul

 

Submitted by jeand on

Hi Paul

Beautiful dewcriptions of hte teres.  When my son was in Calaifornia, he took some cuttings of very old pine trees, to bring back to England.  The dog ate several of the tiny trees but  there is still one of them surviving and about 35 ft tall, after 25 years. 

Jean Day

Submitted by marandina on

Ah thanks for reading, Jean. The 35ft tall tree sounds amazing. Paul