TheBanyanTree: THERE’S A TREE

[smack58 at nycap.rr.com]

THERE’S A TREE

There’s a tree
It stands between house and river bank
Protected between greater trees
And a lilac bush.

They don’t compete
They blend
And have become friends.

In summer one is lush and green
Purple flowers abound in the other in spring
Later joining the others in green.

It came to me as a sapling
Not more than four feet
And ten branches.

It has been there for fifteen years
Growing stronger with each year
Now it stands at a strapping 
Twenty feet or more.

It carries the bird feeders.
The bird bath
Made of stone
Stands in front of it
Surely a bird sanctuary.

But it wasn’t until this fall
When the last of the leaves
(it is always the very last tree
to turn color and lose its leaves)
Finally blew away in the wind
And the storm
I saw it…

I saw the small bird’s nest
Way up high 
Against the trunk
Between branches.

It looked so fragile 
you would think it would have fallen 
or been blown down
but, no, it has stood its ground
and I am sure will be there
when its owner
returns to its summer home in the Berkshires