The Sense Of A Tree Poem by Sally Sandler

"The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses
to grow sharper."-William Butler Yeats


How to tune our ears to hear
the dialogue between trees,
the language underneath the leaves,
the hidden roots that grieve and breathe
and speak to others living near.

Or sharpen eyes to truly see—
to know and fully comprehend
a bud that turns to leaf, and then
the magic when it turns again
to gold, upon an aspen tree.

To feel the miracle of tree
like a child who has no words—
a tree that reaches heavenward
and shares the secrets of the earth,
a tree that's waiting patiently,
firm as rock—and trembling.