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Posted: **Tue Dec 20, 2005 1:19 am**

My Brother

My brother
Together we have journeyed the ages
Our father
Unknown and undefined
Who is he?
Why did he not guide our steps?
or maybe he did
And still does
From afar.

My brother
We drink the wind
You stare at the sun
Your arms reach out
To embrace it
You always stare at the sun
Do you wait
For something to happen
A sign perhaps?
Or do you simply breathe its light
For your life
And mine.

My brother
I was restless
Dissatisfied
I learned to talk
To talk a lot
I learned to move
To create
And destroy

My brother
You learned to be silent
You never move
So completely satisfied
And always staring
Always staring at the sun

And now
Now I think
That I don't need you
I do what I think I must
I cut you down.
You never resist me
Even though you are strong
Much stronger
Than I can ever be
Perhaps you forgive me
As brothers often will.

Brother Tree
Who are you?
It seems we are still strangers
Even after all these years
Of growing up together.

And you are always silent
Always staring at the sun
Do you know something
That I don't?

Posted: **Tue Dec 20, 2005 2:29 am**

This is beautiful, Kush

. It sounds like you followed through on cutting your Brother tree down, unless this is a generalized poem about the environment and man's attitude toward it. I love the way you see the tree always staring at the sun, remaining silent, and knowing something you [or none of us] know ~ for me, shown in the fact that we cut them down, our strong and silent Brothers.

This reminds me of a real-life experience I had of the fear-based cutting down of some, fully-grown pine trees, and then regretting it....having done it, even after I asked the trees should I, by using my pink quartz and amethyst pendulums, with both giving me the answer of "no."

Your poem is a poignant way of looking at these lovely beings. When you first used the phrase "cutting down," I thought you meant it in the sense of 'insulting/putting down' your human sibling. Such a surprize ending, which makes one return to read the whole of it over again.

I really like this.

~ Elizabeth

Posted: **Tue Dec 20, 2005 2:31 am**

This is the best gift Kush has given to us for Chirstmas......what a beautiful poem Kush! I love it......

Posted: **Tue Dec 20, 2005 3:48 am**

Thanks for the appreciation Lizzytysh and Sandra.

In fact this was partly inspired by LC's quote ".....you have to first write a song about the tree in your garden" (or words to that effect). Well I dont do songs but I can put a few lines together and call it a poem.

Posted: **Tue Dec 20, 2005 5:46 am**

Kush,

The fact that we're related - the human, the tree - and we can't understand their beauty, their mystery, our oneness - that for me is the nub of it. You express this beautifully.

In peace

Boss

Posted: **Tue Dec 20, 2005 6:27 am**

Well, Kush, I have to tell you ~ I'm relieved, and I'm serious about that. It's good to know that a real tree in your yard didn't have to die for this lovely poem to be born. Very interesting direction you took with Leonard's quote. I remember that you liked it very much at the time it was brought up [by you? probably]. Rather appropriate with its being the Christmas season, as well....I'm reading more 'debates' in newspaper articles about real trees vs. artificial trees for the Christmas season. With the real trees, I'm surprized none of the articles have mentioned buying one of the potted evergreen trees, decorating it, and planting it after the New Year. I'm wondering now if you have a particular fondness for trees, or if your interest in them was more quote-/poem-inspired.

~ Lizzy

Posted: **Tue Dec 20, 2005 11:51 am**

This poem puts me in mind of the poem Boss wrote in the Puddle thread. I adore trees and what they represent, Kush, and you have said it beautifully. Nature is our brother, and all our mothers and fathers.

Thanks,

Diane

Posted: **Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:37 pm**

Thank you and Thank you...Bossman and Diane and also for your additional comment Lizzytysh.

I must emphasize though that I'm no tree-hugger. It was only something I wanted to write. You should not make any inferences about me from the poem that I write.

But yes we are related, we have a common ancestor.

Posted: **Tue Dec 20, 2005 8:10 pm**

At least you did very well with your role-play exercise, Kush

. No inferences ~ promise

.

Your tree hugger [still wishing I'd listened],
Lizzy

Posted: **Tue Dec 20, 2005 8:38 pm**

Kush- beautiful poem, just that you left out the birds on the tree. In the next one, please write something about the birds visiting the tree, and what the birds have to say about it.

Posted: **Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:23 pm**

Oh I wasnt playing any roles at all. I wrote my mind.

Sorry Bee about leaving out the birds. But this one was just for me and my bro.

Glad you liked it.

Posted: **Tue Dec 20, 2005 11:06 pm**

Yes, yes, Kush, just in the next one, think about it.
I have a big bro- a redwood tree in my backyard. I am awfully afraid of that brother, cause it is so big, and the roots are too powerful. I am afraid, when the next big earthquake comes, it will lift up my house. Otherwise, I am quite comfortable and pleased with it.

Posted: **Wed Dec 21, 2005 12:23 am**

Hi Kush. Sorry, wasn't trying to suggest you are a tree-hugger. Lizzy and I are going to hug a tree in Berlin (remember, Lizzy

?) as part of our tree dance. You better believe it.

Bee you have a redwood in your back yard? Wow. I just looked up some more info and had to copy this here:

Superlatives abound when a person tries to describe old-growth redwoods: immense, ancient, stately, mysterious, powerful. But the trees were not designed for easy assimilation into language. Their existence speaks for themselves, not in words, but rather in a soft-toned voice of patience and endurance.

From a seed no bigger than one from a tomato, California's coast redwood (Sequoia semperviren) may grow to a height of 367 feet (122 m) and have a width of 22 feet (7 m) at its base. Imagine a 35-story skyscraper in your city and you have an inkling of the trees' ability to arouse humility.

Some visitors envision dinosaurs rumbling through these forests in bygone eras. It turns out that this is a perfectly natural thought. Fossil records have shown that relatives of today's coast redwoods thrived in the Jurassic Era 160 million years ago. And while the fantastic creatures of that age have long since disappeared, the redwoods continue to thrive, in the right environment.

California's North Coast provides the only such environment in the world. A combination of longitude, climate, and elevation limits the redwoods' range to a few hundred coastal miles. The cool, moist air created by the Pacific Ocean keeps the trees continually damp, even during summer droughts. These conditions have existed for some time, as the redwoods go back 20 million years in their present range.

http://www.nps.gov/redw/trees.html

I am afraid, when the next big earthquake comes, it will lift up my house.

I'm not surprised! Amazing tree to have in your yard, though.

Diane

Posted: **Wed Dec 21, 2005 1:05 am**

Yes, I do, Diane

~ perhaps, between the two of us, we can make it around an oak. Or, each get an oak of our own [sounds like I'm trying to say yolk, so we can each have our own thing to laugh at

].

~ Lizzy

Posted: **Wed Dec 21, 2005 2:33 am**

perhaps, between the two of us, we can make it around an oak

sounds like I'm trying to say yolk, so we can each have our own thing to laugh at

I think we should approach this exercise with the utmost solemnity.

Diane