Ode to the Fallen OR Engaging with a Dead Tree Trunk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

This poem has appeared on the blog before, some years ago. As regular readers will know, I have a You Tube channel that is as much about my friend Graham’s videos as my poetry. Many a time, I have felt inspired to write a poem to try and do the video justice and vice versa. We hope you will enjoy what has been a team effort from the start:

http://www.youtube.com/rogerNtaber

I read today's poem over one of the videos there. Graham shot the video while visiting family in Wiltshire, and I love it. I played it back several times, and then just had to sit down and write a nature-cum philosophical poem to accompany it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W37DVIo3pJM

Many years ago, I confided in my mother that I was afraid of dying. Later that day we went for a walk in the countryside and she pointed to a dead tree trunk; we watched a variety of insects, birds, mosses growing and a colony of ants all building their lives around this 'dead' thing. You see," said my mother, "there is no death without life so there is really nothing to be afraid of...whether you believe in God or not," she added, knowing full well that I did not share her religious beliefs. (I had chosen to take a growing sense of spirituality from nature even at the young age of eleven). "Life and death," she said before changing the subject, "are simply different sides of the same coin."

My mother died of cancer 40+ years ago, and I still take great comfort in recalling the day we paused to observe a dead tree trunk and nature's living memorial to it...

ODE TO THE FALLEN or ENGAGING WITH A DEAD TREE TRUNK

Fallen, but not forgotten,

by its own kind,

sure to keep a vigil of sorts

the whole year round

Fallen, but never alone

among its kind

proudly waiting for their turn

to come around

Fallen, by whose hand

no one knows;

some say an axe man, others

blame the wind

Fallen into glorious decay,

like autumn leaves;

nurturing, inspiring greener

memories

If dead, not left without a care

by an Earth Mother   

demanding nothing of Time

but its signature

Once, a living icon for a world

of love and peace;

a cue for ants to keep running

rings around us

Copyright R. N. Taber 2013; 2020