The Conversation of Trees
Talking To Each Other: the conversation of trees
What do we talk about?
Well, rings come up once a year.
We gear up for that huge effort,
forcing our cells outward
layering on the news of the year.
Dry? Wet? We have to tell everything
along a narrow ribbon.
And roots. Now roots are a little
competitive. Whose are deeper, stronger
and most important, who knows the mycelium best?
Who do the mushrooms like the best?
It's all about networking.
There is also a leaf competition.
Sometimes we have "board" meetings
and it's not at all amusing; trees have deep feelings
for the ones they have lost to the saw.
And also we commemorate limbs. The tales are told,
so the young ones will know their history,
and not be too surprised when they are slashed
along their trunks for a "view," whatever that is.
Friends with the clouds and the moon,
we venerate the sun, of course, and cling
to these verities as much as we do to the earth.
