Wonder Of A Tree

Wonder Of A Tree

I never pause to look upon a tree
Without partaking of its mood
That reaching calmly forth, envelopes me
Within a tent of quietude.

A weathered oak or elm, a singing pine
That God has breathed on, lifts my heart
Until its mood has permeated mine
With something only trees impart:

A rugged sweep of strength and beauty won
From storms that I could never breast,
A stillness drawn from mist and rain and sun,
From sheltering a robin's nest;

The wonder of a tree against the sky
Whose mood is felt but never known,
Inalienable loveliness that I
Would gather close and make my own.

~ Marie Barton

From my mother's poetry notebook