Ode To Connecticut's Charter Oak Poem by Kimberly Burnham

Already 500 years old
in 1662 Governor John Winthrop Jr.
wins a charter
the right to exist here
in the forests of Connecticut
okay from a far says King Charles II
he does not see this October day flush
with reds and yellows

A nation state early in birth throws
witnessed by a old Oak tree
a Charter on paper
earlier grown in a European forest
a human generation passes
the 500 year old Oak sees
the minions of James II ride
to take the Charter back

Suddenly the room darkens
light returns with candle bright
the charter gone from the table
hidden in a 13th century white oak tree
commemorated on Connecticut's quarter

An object of veneration
by generations of native Americans
traditionally holding their councils
beneath its expanses

Not until 1614 did the old tree
became the property of Samuel Wyllys,
an early Hartford landowner
busy clearing away the homestead forest
circling ever closer to the white oak
visited he was by a delegation of native Americans
fearful that their revered tree
destroyed would be
pleading for the Oak
planted as a token of peace
by a great Sachem

The appearance of springtime leaves
communication from the Great Spirit
begin again

And so the ancient tree stood
until a great storm on August 21,1856
civic mourning ensued
the day the Charter Oak fell
an honor guard placed
around the remains
attaching an American flag
to the shattered trunk
Colt's Band of Hartford
a funeral dirge played
at sunset Hartford bells
rang out

From near and far
people gathered
even the smallest fragments
of the oak passed along to posterity
precious reminders of heritage
and freedom

Acorns dropped by the great tree
gathered and planted
producing in time
a forest of trees
descended from the historic oak