A poem lovely as a tree

TREES
by: 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 earth's sweet 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.

Need I add more?

Until recently the cedar tree was a famous meeting place in the Jardins de la Fontaine, in Nimes. Unfortunately the bad weather this winter has taken its toll… Here are some more pictures of what was left of the tree at the end of March 2010.

Avenue Coligny

When we first came to live in France, 22 years ago, we lived in a flat/apartment at the top of one of the houses in this street. The street hasn’t changed much at all since this postcard was printed, except that the house we lived in had been rebuilt because a plane crashed into it during World War II. The trees are not the same ones, a few days before I arrived the trees had been cut down because of disease. They are fully grown again today.