Engaging with Veterans OR Questions left Hanging on (Family) Trees

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

“We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realise that we are apes.”

- Richard Dawkins, A Devil's Chaplain:Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science and Love

“To dwellers in a wood, almost every species of tree has its voice as well as its feature.”
- Thomas Hardy, Under the Greenwood Tree

One touch of nature makes the whole world kin."

- William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida

From my window, I can easily make out two trees, facing each other across a road; no imagination can fail to respond to nature, and mine is no exception. Among their leaves and branches, heads emerge closely resembling apes.

During the UK lock-down, I have engaged with these head shapes; as the wind blows, I is as if they are engaging in conversation and my muse frequently enjoyed listening-in. Could this be   because I live alone and missing social interaction with friends, I ask myself, or am I losing more than my share of marbles? We only have to read history books to discover that so many questions are left hanging … or listen in to tree apes.

ENGAGING WITH VETERANS or NATURE AND HUMAN NATURE, QUESTIONS LEFT HANGING ON (FAMILY) TREES

Something about certain shapes in our trees

against a lively backcloth of sky

suggests a Planet of Apes lasting centuries?

Life forces everywhere, aping personalities

not unfamiliar to the human eye;

something about certain shapes in our trees

Eyes, noses, mouths, courtesy of arty leaves

lends imagination a reality by and by,

suggests a Planet of Apes lasting centuries?

Earth Mother, mulling on human ingenuities

(among them, the bare faced lie);

something about certain shapes in our trees

Humankind, all but bringing nature to its knees,

whisperings in the wind’s weepy sigh,

suggests a Planet of Apes lasting centuries?

Enter, humanity obsessed with potential enemies

(more power to the elbow than any sky);

something about certain shapes in our trees

suggests a Planet of Apes lasting centuries?

Copyright R. N. Taber, 2020

Note: Composed May 1^st  during the UK  lockdown]