[MarvinStinson]

TREES

Joyce Kilmer - 1886-1918

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth’s flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

[elcid1970]

We were taught in grade school that Sgt. Kilmer came upon a blasted, shrapnel-riddled tree in no-man’s-land, which inspired him to write the poem.

It was also the first time I learned that the poet Joyce Kilmer was not a woman. Joyce was a family surname.

Not unrelated: there are several new vids and articles on how many soldiers were killed on November 11, 1918 between the armistice being announced at 5:00 a.m. and when it took effect at 11:00 a.m.

It should have been, “oh, well, it’s over; let’s stand down now and just wait for eleven o’clock”. No, the war went viciously on with charges and artillery bombardments until IIRC more than 3,000 additional deaths resulted before the final hour. Senseless.

[Sacajaweau]

One of the first poems I learned. But it would be 40 years until I learned that Joyce...was a man.