Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Trees by Merwin



Poem: From "Trees" by W. S. Merwin, from The Compass Flower. © Macmillan Publishing Company. Reprinted with permission. (buy now) 

Trees 

I am looking at trees
they may be one of the things I will miss
most from the earth
though many of the ones I have seen
already I cannot remember
and though I seldom embrace the ones I see
and have never been able to speak
with one
I listen to them tenderly
their names have never touched them
they have stood round my sleep
and when it was forbidden to climb them
they have carried me in their branches


2 comments:

Kate Evans said...

love him.

I had the fortune of picking him up at the airport once. We talked the hour-long drive about dogs. He's a lovly man.

Kate Evans said...

ps: I don't see the line breaks on Merwin's poem--don't know if it's my computer or your blog.