And All the Time That You Are Alone: A Tribute to a Life Circle
A single step in history.
We find out who we are when we are alone.
Many people never understand what it is to be a free spirit. Likewise, when they consider the true benefits which that free spirit gains from choosing to be such. Man should not be so arrogant as to consider that it is only the human spirit that can exist or can exist freely. Nature gives us many opportunities to identify the spiritual attributes of many living things, though we as people tend to not consider that fact, or in what respects that fact has substance.
When we take the time to consider the beauty and natural energies of different environments and the conditions which the inhabitants of those environments have had to endure over time, then we gain the ability to measure their spirit. I believe that one of the best examples of this comes from old trees that offer little pretense and show their spirit openly within their shape, their foliage and their scarred, tell-tale bark.
‘And all the time that you are alone’ is a poem about one such tree. When I first noticed this tree it was because its spirit shone through and showed the harshness of the life it had endured, that had shaped and mounded the tree’s history. It sat alone on white sands beside a coral lagoon that almost appeared to be a tranquil environment, yet it betrayed the fierce climatic fluctuations that this environment was subjected to for eight months of the year. The tree was stunted and bent to the prevailing winds, its bark was twisted and scarred, showing a character that had survived at least two hundred years, perhaps even five hundred years. This free spirit had seen and endured so much throughout time and storms that I could only guess how its life had evolved.
The tree in the picture below is real and is an amazing specimen of nature, with its soul bared to anyone in the world who would take the time to notice. I hope that you can visualize the spirit of this living treasure that still blesses one unique and undeveloped environment.
Please enjoy: ‘And All The Time That You Are Alone’
Copyright © 2011 - 2013 Pearldiver Poetry with all rights reserved
And all the time that you are alone, is marked in rings around....
Alone.
‘And All the Time That You Are Alone’
Alone, you escaped
From a tangled forest long gone
Here you stand, leaning
Bent with countless years
Drawing water solely from the mist
Alone
Once a sapling
Young dreams with which to grow
To get you through the harshest drought
And storms as they scarred you
Into growing a steely bark to survive
Alone
Once you met conquistadors
They leaned against you
And laughingly wet your trunk
You gave them shade during their stay
And sadly watched footprints blow away
Spanish rust still caught within your roots
Alone
You are in history
Perhaps you met Columbus
And knew the native Indians
Who draped raw fish over your limbs
And wet your trunk once more
Now a picnic spot beside the sea
And all the time that you are alone
Is marked in rings around your heart
Sadly watching all footprints fade away
And you knew that you’d always be
Alone
Throughout all time
You proudly show the grandeur of trees
And of those times we have shared, I wonder
If you’ll always remember me
Now bent with so few years left to be
We both alone, each sharing our history
Alone
Once you shaded me
And stood guard during my rest
Gentle breeze rustling your iron leaves
Bared a great soul within your bonsai form
Hypnotically I got to know you well
Over times we each talked and listened
And I learned how to understand
Nature’s language, spoken in ancient tree
Throughout all time alone, part of history
Leaning into the harshest storms, happy to be
Alone
Bent from countless years
Of sandy loam and prevailing winds
Weighed down with silent wisdom
You embrace the ebb and flow of tides
Changing times and changing seas
Beyond the reefs breaking surf
Alone
Like nocturnal laying turtles
Digging at your feet, knowingly
That you offer safety to their offspring
Vigilance while counting the grains of sand
That blow in and out of your world
And you, forever giving shade to strangers
And those who know you well
All proud to be part of your history
Seeing great beauty in this ancient tree
Alone
And Here Alone
On the cusp of all tomorrows
May nature always highlight the beauty
That lets your ancient spirit soar
Across more time, another century
Showing those who meet you
That alone
Is not always, as it seems to be
To an ancient tree, once escaped
From tangled forests, long ago
Now beside an ever changing sea
Alone, a wise soul will always be,
Forever free.....
* Poetry by Pearldiver *
Copyright © 2011 - 2013 Pearldiver Poetry with all rights reserved
This poem is sponsored by:
You can never truly be alone if you are free. If you enjoyed this poem, please take the time to leave a comment below...... Thanks for reading this piece.
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Thank you for your comments.
A wonderful insight an individual, when alone all kinds of thoughts got through ones mind a very interesting thought here
Wow. Magnificent Job
Hi Pearldiver,
I've added a new poem and edited an old poem..https://hubpages.com/literature/A-Poetic-Conspirac...
Please take a look when you have time....back in Denver...4:43 AM
Beautiful and touching poem. You certainly are connected to a higher source. Thank you for sharing this powerful and moving poem.
What a beautiful tribute to this tree. my first hub poem I published was a tribute to a tree, but also a tribute to a special lady. I love the way you wrote this. There is always so much history in the tree, and the song "the trees know everything" is very true. They witness so much.
Beautiful poetry. :)
Beautiful poem with deep meaning! Enjoyed it very much..... Thanks.
How epic and beautiful, Thank You.
Wonderful poem and a great tribute to the trees, god bless.
Rearldiver, beautiful pictures, great poetry, I'm speechless.
Dear pearl Diver, Oh your replies are as beautiful as your poetry!! Ellen
Dear Peal Diver, I am a lover of Tree's as well. My kids, when they where younger, grew used to me slamming on my breaks, backing up, and getting out to snap a photo of a beautiful tree setting alone on a hillside. Or, me getting angry at a property owner as we drive by I'd be loudly mumbling to myself that they should trim that beautiful tree as I could see the lovely bones of it beneath the overgrowth. I guess it's in my blood as two uncles and many cousins are all tree trimmers.
I thoroughly enjoyed your poem! Look forward to reading your other writings!!! Ellen Karman
Your poem has moved me. I too love trees and see the great value and wisdom they offer us. I think you have inspired me to write about it. Again I am thankful that I found your work here. I love photos and think they surely do speak a thousand words or more. It is rare that I read before I look at the photos. Your poem and profile were like a magnet to my spirit. One question: How has your work been seen from space? Just curious like a child...always a child in some ways...
Pearlediver, what can I say?
This is a magnificently beautiful poem. I congratulate you, Sir. I loved it.
PD all I can say is Wow - I loved the way it is written & it really makes a person feel as if you are in the tree's spot - I really loved this one - Great Work
a very worthy winner indeed!
Congratulations, Pearldiver. This is beautiful.
Hello Rob ~ Well, I definitely knew that this was an original work of art. I just gave my feelings of other 'great' artists who came into my mind as I began reading. Blessings, Debby
P.S. I just read your poem aloud to my husband. He says it reminds him of Walt Whitman. So, now you have another author to research.
Pearldiver, this is really an awesome piece of writing. Trees also fascinate me; I am sure they live in a dimension beyond our comprehension. Studies proved that they communicate with each other; when they face annihilation in times of drought they make their leaves uneatable for animals. This poem of yours can also be regarded as a tribute to a remarkable person. I am so in awe of this poem, and of you as a poet, able to see so much in a mere tree. Congratulations with the second place in the HubPatron of the Arts competition, though I regard this one just as good as the winner.
Tree are beautiful and extraordinary. Thanks for sharing they beauty in this poem.
Great tribute to trees...one of the best I have read:)
Totally, totally beautiful flowing poetry, PearlDiver. A huge congratulations for the Second Prize winning entry in this contest. Everyone wrote so many deserving poems and literature. You know how the mind brings up past experience to put into place where they have heard or seen something before? Well, I felt like I was reading Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" in the rhythm and movement of the lines. (I read it out loud to myself), but only after "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein told me this was a story about the life of this ancient tree. You truly made it your own. Many blessings, Debby
What wonders have they witnessed? Beautiful, and congratulations!
Congratulations PD... this is such a lovely poem and the steady calm in the face of struggle is so vivid..
Great work !!
Pearl Diver, this is an awesome poem with some very thought provocative passages. You definitely have a beautiful gift with words that cross over into emotions. Congratulations.
Congrats on your win, PD. I'm very happy for you as this beautiful poem deserves recognition. The love and respect you share for living things is evident in your writing. It is a beautiful, beautiful poem and hub. This ancient tree so gracefully embodies the strength it requires to live well. You captured this perfectly with your words and your heart. They are one and the same, I believe. Enjoy!
congratulations.Tribute to ancient tree is beautiful .Best wishes.
cool...congrats!...
I can’t believe that I only just discovered you as a result of the contest. There is such depth to this magnificent and unique tribute that does honor to the tree. The photos are also exquisite. Congratulations on a well-deserved win.
Oh my gosh, Pearldiver. I am SOOOO happy you won. Deserved on so many levels. Congratulations! Where are you?
Laura
Congratulations Pearldiver, this was one of my Top Ten Choices, although We Met only as True Lovers was my Top three choice, either way you placed with one of them. Your work is spectacular and I was honored to read and be chosen as one of the judges to help choose a candidate and voila you ranked right up there as I knew you would. Bravo, my poetic genius, take a well deserved bow.
I love trees , very beautiful , voted up :)
Congratulations! You deserved it with this entry! Beautiful. Goodnight, Mary
Congratulations on your well deserved win Pearldiver.
Congratulations, Pearldiver. I love the depth of this work, and images are spectacular, too.
Exquisite imagery, exquisite photos! Well done in the contest!
Congratulations on winning entry in Poetry contest Pearldiver, I can see why this poem is judged a winner, it is awesome. Regards, snakeslane
Very beautiful, PD. When I read poems like this, it reminds me how everything is connected. We couldn't live without trees. Their wisdom and beauty protect us and give us breath.
I love reading your poems, and this is lovely, beautiful poetry.
Live on a farm surrounded by many eucalyptus trees of different heights and colours and shades of leaves...hiding in their shades when temperature soar in 40tees they feel like friends to me...trees of different personalities:)
Such a beautiful poem!
Alone, a wise soul will always be/Forever free.....
If only human beings can accept this thought!
This is beautiful, Pearl! I love your word choice. Voted up!
"And all the times that you are alone
Is marked in rings around your heart
Sadly watching all footprints fade away
And you knew that you’d always be
Alone"
PD, this is really, really beautiful...reading it one more time...
Beautiful description. I always marvel at the strength and stamina of trees.
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