NEVER TOLERATE TYRANNY!....Conservative voices from the GRASSROOTS.

ARBOR DAY

The Family Tree

In front of our house
a childhood ago
stood a sturdy almond tree

We planted that tree,... my sister and me
and watered it every day...
And in a few years it comforted fears
of sparrows that flew by the way...
For when the wind blew, the sparrows they knew
it stood strong, steadfast, and true

It provided the homes for hundreds of gnomes
(as we children in secrecy knew)...
And pirates would cast their sails from its mast
as the summer breeze softly blew...
And in the dark night, moon silver and bright,
in its cruise across the night sky,
we’de gaze out in wonder from covers tucked under,
t’wards the flickering tree, with the moon rolling by;
And birds in their nest, and quiet squirrels at rest
and all of the townspeople knew
of how it was formed,
from one little seed,
that now braced against storms...
And was all they would need
for shelter and comfort so true

So, on through the years, through laughter and tears
it stood, like a guard, at the front of the yard

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, when we moved on, o’er rainbows and stones,
away from the poor side of town,
sometimes in our thoughts and memories sought
that tree, when we felt alone and down

I returned there one day, in the month before May,
at the cracking of dawn in the early morn’s yawn
to see my old friend, and to stand. . once again
‘neath the shadows it made on the green grass glade. . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then, suddenly there rolled from the silent night’s cold,
derricks and cranes...and a man in a hard hat,
ordering this, and ordering that,
jumped out of his truck...
And it was then that I knew
that the sparrows had run out of luck
Then and there I knew that this man and his crew
would certainly lay
waste to my friend on that day...
For the project they planned was heavily manned

Ah, that proud, majestic tree
seemed to be waving “Goodby” to me. . .
As it swayed in the breeze with the neighboring trees
where it stood through the years
‘midst our laughter and tears

And all morning they toiled,
all sweaty and soiled
as they tugged with their chains...
But the tree fastly held
against their derricks and cranes
‘til long t’wards the night
when the squirrels fled in fright
from the dynamite blast
that snapped that pirates’ mast!

Then, as people turned to leave
on that last, violent heave,
way past the scheduled hour,
We were pelted by a shower
not of rain, but of seeds
that sprinkled the ground
for what must have been a mile around!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then I, and the sparrows, and squirrels
...we all knew that in a few years,
despite bitter tears,
would return our friend of old,
...Providing that shade,
HUNDREDFOLD,
across the green glade.......