How To Befriend a Tree

Some simple and sensible etiquette

Photo by Olly Joy on Unsplash

First recognize
you are treading on her toes!

Move slowly.
Don’t run or stamp about.

Instead stand still
for as long as you comfortably can,

arms loose and limber
perhaps slightly outstretched.

Fingers gently curved
never fisted.

But do not hold your breath
for that would be ungenerous.

Sharing is easy and natural
when trees and people
befriend and breathe together.

I have always loved trees, but since over the past few years I have read and learned more about the intelligence of trees, how they communicate with each other and are aware of the world around them, I have felt a deepening appreciation for trees and a wish to live more in harmony with them.

Here’s a poem about trees I wrote recently that was published in Scribe that I hope you will enjoy.

The Wandering Trees