O then bespoke Joseph,
With words most unkind:
"Let him pluck thee a cherry
That brought thee with child"

O then bespoke the babe,
Within his mothers womb:
"Bow down then the tallest tree,
For my mother to have some."

Then bowed down the highest tree
Unto his mother's hand;
Then she cried, "see Joseph
I have the cherries at command."

Atlas surpasses all men in giant size.
He ruled the worlds last lands and that far sea
That greets the panting horses of the sun
And welcomes their tired wheels. A thousand herds
Roamed on his pastures and a thousand flocks,
Unchecked, untroubled by a neighbour's bounds;
And there were trees whose glittering leaves of gold
Clothed golden apples under golden boughs.

The place is calling you Aphrodite
Come to us here from Crete-to this holy
Temple:

Place of your most pleasing
Apple groves and altars smoking
Sweet with incense

Here where the waters trickle coolly
Through apple boughs, and the ground is shady
With Roses, down from the leaves that shiver
Sleep drops slowly

Here is a meadow, horses feeding;
Spring profuse with flowers, and breezes
Gently seeping

Here then Cyprian goddess bring your
Lovable person; into golden
Goblets stir your nectar, mingling
With our feasting

It is very well for a forester to believe that certain trees willfully kill all other varieties of trees around them and then conclude a specious "attitude" of trees.

Let him look again

What made the soil?
What provides the means of keeping the oxygen balance?
What makes it possible for rain to fall in other areas?

These willful and murderous trees.

And squirrels plant trees.

And man plants trees.

And trees shelter trees of another kind.

And animals fertilize trees.

And trees shelter animals.

And trees hold the soil so less well-rooted plants can grow.

Look anywhere and everywhere and we see life as an assist for life. The multitude of the complexities of life as affinities for life is not dramatic. But they are the steady, practical, important reason life can continue to exist at all.

A redwood tree may be first out for redwood trees and although it does an excellent job of seeming to exist as redwood alone, a closer glance will show it has dependencies and is depended upon.

This universe is a tree eternally existing,
Its roots aloft,
Its branches spread below,
The pure root of the tree is Brahman,
The immortal,
In whom the three worlds have their being,
Whom none can transcend,
Who is verily the Self.

When Tzu-ch'i of Nan-po was on an excursion in the hills of Shang,
He marveled at a large tree there.
A thousand four-horses could have rested in its shade.
"What a tree that is!" He exclaimed. "There must be some marvelous stock in it."
However, when he looked at the smaller branches,
He found them knotted and twisted and unfit for beams or rafters;
And when he gazed down at the big roots,
He found them curved and forked and useless for making coffins.
When he tasted the leaves, he burned his mouth;
When he smelled them he became dizzy for three months.
Thereupon he remarked,
" This tree has naturally attained its great size because nothing can be done with it. So, it is with this in view that the gods, once men, act like useless material."

In the courtyard
a shadowy giant elm
Spreads ancient boughs,
her ancient arms where dreams,
False dreams, the old tale goes, beneath each leaf
Cling and are numberless.

I solemnly vow never to drive through southern Saskatchewan at the height of summer ever again.


So, what's happening with you?