PAD 15: What's In The Middle Of A Tree?

 

Moses and the Burning Bush   Image Source: Pascal Deloche / Getty Images

PAD Challenge, Day 15 prompt: write a middle poem. Some people feel stuck in the middle; others like being in the middle of things. There are foods that are known for their middles (like jelly doughnuts and empanadas). So poem your way to, within, or away from the middle today.

What's In The Middle Of A Tree?

"So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant which they had from Cyrus king of Persia" (Ezra 3:7).

What's in the middle of a tree?
The rings of age we cannot see,
Until it's cut across the trunk.
How do those rings get in the wood,
Which we can see in frame of bunk
Or dining table, firm and good?
It seems they form in winter freeze
After the tree has lost its leaves,
When sap begins to move more slowly
And colder days are shorter growing.
Between each ring, a year of life
And growth beneath the summer sky.
What happens if the tree gets hollow,
And it no longer has tomorrow?
Well, then the tree, though not alive,
Becomes a bustling honeybee hive.
The hive in turn attracts the bear,
Or humans seeking honey there.
If hollow only is the branch,
The squirrels will nest and bark and prance.
Yet if the tree should all be dead,
The logs could make a firewood spread
That would be stored in a woodshed,
To keep us warm in winter dread,
To cook our food and bake our bread,
Or whittle and woodburn instead.
The branches cut alive and tarred
Form fenceposts for our land to guard.
And so the middle of a tree
Bears strength we often do not see:
It has such uses, tells a tale
Of fair weather, storm, and gale.
Pay heed: though it seems lazy there,
Its roots are deep and does not scare.
The ultimate Tree, on its middle
Hung our Savior, face with spittle,
Pierced by nail, spear, and thorn --
On that Tree the Church was born.
And now that Tree of Life has built
The Barque of Peter, sailing still.