During our “Inspiration in the Cloud” Zoom video call today, I shared this poem with all of the participants who joined our weekly 30-minute inspiring conversation. The poem is starkly gender-insensitive, but, remember, he died before I was born! (Honestly, I sometimes think I am more inspired by the wonderful people who show up each week, sharing their wisdom and inspiring stories, than all of the participants combined!). You are welcome to join our growing family for an inspiring 30-minute check-in – you can register here: . We have also added an “Inspiration in the Cloud” Facebook Group for participants. And we have new groups starting in Germany and also in New Zealand – we are going global! Stay tuned! We can do this!
Good Timber
By Douglas Malloch
The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
The man who never had to toil
To gain and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.
Good timber does not grow with ease,
The stronger wind, the stronger trees,
The further sky, the greater length,
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.
Where thickest lies the forest growth
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
This is the common law of life.
That is amazing poem. It is so true. I remember growing up as a little girl in NH. We would climb to tree line of a mountain and study the most magnificent trees. Later, when my Dad moves to Washington we would visit very, very old trees that had never been forested and see them and all there magnificent energy.
In NH short ,stout,twisted and absolutely beautiful. Then in WA , the tall and stately with all their beauty. All showing how they withstand all and showed the ability to stay, live and be.
What a lovely story Eileen, and it is so nice to here about your background. Thanks for sharing this – lovely!
Oh love that Our best hikes here on Vancouver Island are amongst the trees. I often stop and touch and talk to the skinny new tree trying so hard to get up to the life-giving sun! I pat and admonish it to REACH REACH REACH !
Lue, this is so cool. You might like to see this report about the way trees (and other flora) communicate: https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2017/07/trees-that-talk-the-bizarre-world-of-plant-communication/