A LAST LOOK
Even the words are going somewhere urban
where they hope to find friends
waiting for them
some of the friends will think of trees as pleasant in a minor way
much alike after all
to us
some of the friends will never be aware of a single tree
they will live in a world without a leaf
where the rain is misfortune
all the languages until now have flowed
from leaf to leaf
and have gone like faces
gone like the stone porches of small houses
and the smell of the forest
in the water of summer
– W.S. Merwin, 1987
This is one of W.S. Merwin’s uncollected poems, which appeared in the October/November 1987 issue of Poetry magazine
JANICE WELSH says
I love it! I am an a tree lover and I like the feeling this poem communicates.
Robert W Dixon says
Such a poignant poem. Let’s teach our children to plant trees, smell blossoms in the spring, lie in the the canopy of their shade in the summer, rake the leaves in a pile in the fall to jump in and laugh with joy, and to use them in the compost pile in winter to have live soil to renew the cycle and plant again with living soil in the spring…..and smile with gratitude when the nourishing rain quenches the thirst of all beings.
Gail Burlakoff says
Love the poem and the photo! Any idea who the photographer was? I couldn’t find credit anywhere. Mahalo.
Sara Tekula says
Photographer is me, Sara Tekula. I usually don’t credit myself when I post my own photos, as I consider them a gift to the Conservancy’s photo archive. Thank you for asking – I’m glad you like it!
Robert W Dixon says
Good question. Who adds the photos for the poems?
Rebecca Henderson says
Thank you Sarah for your photograph!
I love that in the poem ..Merwin says some friends…in a repetition and recognition of coutesy and the bigger picture of being in relationship with friendship even when the relationship to “the friends” the beloved trees is changing for some of the friends seeking…..reminds me of Olaf describing the massive influx of invasive, non native to the islands, plants and insects. Olaf also spoke of curiousity and Merwin’s courtesy to the man who was insisting on planting…I think it was bamboo….friends and opinions on how to live and let live. Your photograph has strong shapes not nuanced by foliage or flower petals. Some of the shapes and stones look like roads and urban buildings…a grey…yet also covered with wet and subtle ..earth ..I am here. Glad to remember your voice reading poems as we stopped and became quiet to listen on the trail of trees.
Rebecca in Kentucky