Hawthorn

Cherry

By Ewan

Fri, 28 Apr 2023
  • 488 reads
5 comments
 

Here is a hawthorn.
Who knows its age?
Older than my house,
certainly older 

than the flats behind it.

Stored in the rings,

invisible until the end,
are the changes
from three different centuries.

People believed fairies
lived in Hawthorn trees
and farmers would plant one
on their land
for luck.
The last plough turned soil here long since,

                                    but if you squint, the blossom might be diaphanous wings

fluttering amidst the branches

                                                                             and that is real luck.

I
Hope
It
Never
Falls
In
My
Lifetime.
            
                                                                 

Certificate U
Poem
Not Quite Good Enough
Miscellaneous

Comments

Submitted by Ed Crane on

but it looks more like a flowering cherry in the pic. If you want to be sure go out and grab a branch. :)

A prickly poem for a prickly tree. May it last many lifetimes.

Fairies livng in Hawthorns? makes sense clever little things. I believe people also planted Mountain Ash (Rowan) to ward off witches. Can't figure that out, but it's good for the birds.

 

Submitted by Ewan on

 The blossom is very similar, but it's too early for cherry blossom here in the North, especially as it's been a bit cold this spring. Neither does it fruit, but I know that's not definitive.

Author Page at the 'Zon
 

Submitted by Ed Crane on

My friend, Maria told me about how beautiful they are. She said they were disappearing though. We talked about going, but it's a long way from the Canaries where we lived at that time. 

 

 

Submitted by Ewan on

miss the spring in Andalusia.

Author Page at the 'Zon
 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Doesn't really matter, so long as you can see fairy wings :0) In the woods here hawthorn has not buds yet, but the wild cherry is gorgeous