TREES

The flames half lit the cavernous mystery

Of the over-arching elm that loomed profound

And mountainous above us, from the ground

Soaring to midnight stars majestically,

As, under the shelter of that ageless tree

In a rapt dreaming circle we lay around

The crackling faggots, listening to the sound

Of old words moving in new harmony.

And as you read, before our wondering eyes

Arose another tree of mighty girth —

Crested with stars though rooted in the earth,

Its heavy-foliaged branches, lit with gleams

Of ruddy firelight and the light of dreams —

Soaring immortal to eternal skies.