The Cut-Out-And-Keep Guide To Trees Poem by Clive Culverhouse

the silver birch
it likes to hide
so as you search
at eventide
you find it there with many friends
playing poker through the night

the common oak
a wise old man
an aging folk
since time began
grandfathers of the forest they
speak myth and folklore when they can

the sycamore
with helicopter seeds
sets out its store
among the weeds
then grows to be big and strong
from people's picnics on which it feeds

the horse chestnut
is the conker tree
the children's favourite
but too spikey
until they are ready later on
and why kids were late home for tea

the yew
is old
and grew
so slow
its age is in millennia
and battles from the archer's bow

the hawthorn
its blossom white
and at dawn
as if it snowed all night
then all too soon the white has gone
a desperate case of bad stage fright

the conifer
fir, spruce and pine
a regular
likes mead and wine
to keep it warm in winter then
comes into homes at Christmas time