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Jim Pagels


The tree in our yard
As big as the house
Blew over, as tall sideways
As it had been standing

In what should have been
The prime of its life
Having drunk too easily
From what the garden required
Not properly rooted
Living on the surface of life

Old now myself--older far
Than the mesquite blown down--
I have been recalling other trees,
old trees at the end of their lives,
which refused to fall, balanced
Root and rock-set as they had lived

"Careful!", we were told
"Someday it will fall
As we all do, but it is standing tall"

So we walked with an eye
On tall old trees with deep roots
That etched themselves into our minds
Surely gone now, except
As we remember
How to stand tall
Deep-rooted in rock

Conrad Royksund
December 2015

Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 22, 2015 at 11:07 PM

    Jim stood tall as a TOT teammate, a man and a friend. We, as well as his family where he stood even taller, will miss him.

    ReplyDelete

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