I wrote this poem a couple of years ago after a developer took down two beautiful Douglas fir trees in the little park right behind our house. Bill and I had battled for two years to save all of the trees, and succeeded except for these two. I was very sad about their loss because they had made our yard feel peaceful and protected and were always full of birds. I started to write this elegy and realized that I was grieving more than two trees. As you know, my posts run to light and humorous, but to fully feel the joy and laughter of life you have to be willing to go into the sadness of it sometimes as well. Today I'm particularly missing my daughter who is far away in Australia, although very near in my heart.
Elegy for a couple of trees
The trees came down this morning,
Two tall firs that had been my constant companions
through the kitchen window.
Guardians of my backyard garden.
I knew they were coming down
and tried to prepare for the loss.
It was no use.
No more could I prepare for the day
when the children left home
or the dogs made their last trip to the vet.
Like the spaces left behind by the trees,
they left behind empty places
in my day-to-day life,
but not in my heart,
where I keep them close by.
