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Fun memories from my childhood |
Ode to an Oak Tree I really thought nothing could ever bring down those trees. They seemed like they grew and thrived with such ease. They hovered in the storm and the frozen winters. These three oaks were anything but beginners. They didn't seem so far and wide when I was small They blocked out the sun and you couldn't see it at all. When I was fourteen one fell in a terrible storm I remember standing on the porch on that fateful morn. The lightening was sharp and came out of the sky And when it fell to the ground all I could do was cry The other two grew until two became one It was like they both reached right up to the sun The covered the house, the garden and even the mail box They hovered over neighbor's houses and the trailer parking lot They spew acorns in the fall with moss and broken limbs My mom had us clean up their messes and, I'd curse both of them. Nothing was better than the shade and the breeze We never needed a fan just two of these trees. When we gave strangers directions on how to get to our home We'd say just look for two large oak trees standing alone Behind them you will find a house white and green and the only black family with a mom of eighteen . Across the street is the only high school in town Right next to a house that was painted white and brown. The trees ruined the roof and limbs cluttered the drains The woodpeckers would peck and the birds they would sang. Squirrels would throw nuts if you sat down below At the base of the tree it was hollow you know. There roots were powerful and ran across the land. We used them to pop wheelies and jump over them doing hand stands. I remember when I was five I tried climbing one tree But instead I missed a branch and scraped up my knee. I broke a branch one time playing hide and go seek. Other times they would break because they'd get weak. Each day before school I would give the tree a hug. And my mom would holler: "Stop that!" don't you know that trees filled with bugs . But they were my friends and they would whistle in the wind I loved to hear those sounds from way back when. When I became grown I moved far away. And came back and saw the tree had been cut down that day. I saw the wood and leaves spread all over the grass. And it hurt me so bad that I had to ask 'Who cut down the tree and, why did it have to go?" It was rotting inside, is what I was told. I looked at the wood and watched neighbors take it away It may seem silly but, for me, this was a sad day. Now only one tree standing all by itself. Now who could it lean on when it needed help. Since then its stopped growing and is hollow inside Now my little cousins think it's a great place to hide I love to hear their moms holler, "Get out of that tree Don't you know it's filled with bugs and bumble bees?" That tree has been standing for so long Proving to all the others that it can go on. And bring a smile to another young face And provide for them, a nice hiding place. I hope it's still there when my time will come. And when its time is done We will all see the sun. |