In Praise of Winter Trees, by : Bill Brown
Winter trees, Millennium Forests Project,
County Kilkenny.
Irish landscape photography : Nigel borrington
In Praise of Winter Trees
Excerpted from Late Winter by Bill Brown, published by Iris Press.
A closed heart can’t greet
a winter sky. Even a rain puddle
is filled by it, and a horse trough,
and the slow current of creeks.
Winter trees, sycamore and oak,
reach for the sky to offer praise β
stark, hard praise, born from all
those rooted years of bearing
the sky’s weight. Some nights
an open heart is filled with vast
spaces between stars the mind
can’t grasp. The thought of heaven
is not so much mammothed by
the sky’s grandeur, but mystified
beyond our silly notions. Winter
trees aren’t arrogant; they praise
no flags, no denominations,
they owe allegiance to the soil.
My sister, when she was younger,
awoke in winter to hold her arms
up to the sky, shiver in the wholeness
of it, let shadows of winter trees
dance sunlight across her face.
Oak, beech, sycamore, maple, and gum,
reenact creation, drop their seeds
from the sky, make their homes
in star dust, and reach back
toward heaven. Trees suffer
drought and freezing rain, accept
the annual tilt toward shorter days.
Some ancient hope, like winter light,
is allied with the gravity of stars.
Nigel Borrington 
Awesome pictures, stunning words!
November 28, 2013 at 3:24 pm
Hello π π π
Thank you , very pleased you enjoyed both the poem and the images π
November 28, 2013 at 3:26 pm
One of the things I love about winter are leaf-less trees! They are so beautiful. I think I like them more than all the green lush!
November 28, 2013 at 4:26 pm
this is wonderful Nigel, love it!!
November 28, 2013 at 10:01 pm
Hello Johan π π
Thank you very pleased that you enjoyed and commented π π
November 29, 2013 at 3:49 pm
So lovely all the way around Nigel! π
November 28, 2013 at 10:31 pm
Hello Michelle π
Thank you, that’s lovely and very welcome comment π π π
November 29, 2013 at 3:48 pm
Wonderful post Nigel! π
November 29, 2013 at 12:20 pm
Hello Norma π
Thank you very pleased that you enjoyed π π
November 29, 2013 at 3:35 pm
Great images, Nigel. They look good together as a trio :). And a great poem, too! π
November 29, 2013 at 1:41 pm
Hello Sharon π
Thank you, great comment and very welcome feed-back π π π
Pleased that you enjoyed the post !!!!
November 29, 2013 at 3:27 pm