Sunday, December 6, 2009

I Think That I Shall Never See




I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.  
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's 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.
                             Joyce Kilmer


One of my favorite grade school activities was memorizing and reciting poetry. It offered a glimmer of a wider world, something to reach for. There doesn't seem to be much time or interest in such things these days and that makes me sad.

2 comments:

CJGallegos said...

When I was a kid my mother paid us a quarter for every poem we memorized: "Under the spreading chestnut tree a village smithy stands", was one of my finest accomplishments.

smartz said...

When I lived with my grandparents, they encouraged me to memorize poems. (As did my teachers.) It seemed less of a priority in later years.