paradigm of gratitude

mountain ash, elm, poplar and weeping

willow, my cherished sisters

children of my mother earth

you are a paradigm of gratitude

the blanket you knit to cover

our naked mother as the cold winter

advances to cover her feeble body

sustaining us in life and in death

shedding your very organ, you absorb

the energy our father sun sends

with such impartiality on the selfish

and the very liberal to warm and nourish,

your willing sacrifice puts me

to shame that i, the leader

with all my learning have mastered

nothing but egotistic grabbing

and have miserably failed

to learn even basic skills

on generous giving

you teach eloquently with regularity

henry victor     09.10.2002