Trees talk.
Conifers converse.
So do evergreens ever shut up?
Or do eucalypts evoke?
Do beech and birch trees
blather and babble?
Do pine trees
permanently prattle,
or tall trees
tittle-tattle?
Silently they do,
through fungal threads.
Moist underground,
a tangle of mycelium,
like mushroom wires,
like strands of chemistry,
sends messages,
warnings and nourishment.
From root to root.
From tree to tree
en-route connecting
their own internet community.
Photo from Pixabay
Howling winds
from raging seas,
relentless, wild,
distort the trees.
Stunted growth
in salty air,
in sandy soil,
forlorn and bare.
Yet even here
we find beauty,
in harsh and tangled
symmetry.
The start of Summer for me
Means tea under the Jacaranda tree.
Sitting on a carpet of purple flowers
I can read and dream for hours.
The birds tweet from on high
As I wave the blossoms goodbye.
The months become colder
I will turn a few months older.
Soon another year will go
Again, the Jacaranda will grow.
Original artwork by Gemma Creegan
I wandered in a forest deep
and found this ancient tree.
Two thousand years it’s grown here;
lots more it well might see.
They said it’s called a Beech,
born in forests long ago,
before Antarctica
had turned to ice and snow.
Teacher’s note: Lamington and Springbrook National Parks are located on the Scenic Rim of the Gold Coast hinterland. Two hundred and twenty-five million years ago, the continents of South America, Africa, Australia and Antarctica, along with India, New Zealand, Madagascar and Arabia made up a single land mass called Gondwana. When Gondwana broke up 120 million years ago, Australia remained attached to Antarctica. Seventy million years ago, when Antarctica was covered with rainforests, Australia separated and moved north. This Antarctic Beech has survived to this day. Sadly much of the ancient rainforest was lost to logging in the 19th Century.
Home to birds and bugs.
Wasps, spiders, grubs and tree house.
Empty when wasps feed.
(In response to Prompt #5)
They stand in desert heat and chill,
Needles drooping as in sleep,
Millions of them resting still
Upon the vast red plain.
Invincible, their roots run deep,
And after fire they grow again.
(In response to Prompt #5)
These are some of the trees you will see if you wander the streets and parks of London. Luke has spent three years drawing them and figures he still has six years to go! Enjoy his gorgeous drawings of these beautiful trees. Don’t forget National Tree Day on July 30.
Cutting through tree-trunks
from bark to bark,
we’ll see lots of circles
in light-wood and dark.
Light-coloured bands
mostly grow summer-spring
while autumn to winter
grows thin, darker rings.
Tree-rings grow wide
when it’s wetter and hot,
but tend to grow narrow
whenever it’s not.
Decoding these bands
in an ancient tree
can tell us the climate
historically!
First published in Double Helix (Oct 2021)
Reproduced with permission of CSIRO
Hold me, hold me, hold me tight,
I get frightened in the night
by those birds and possums too,
I feel safe when I’m with you!
It’s National Tree Day on July 30 so this prompt is especially for any budding arborists or really for anyone who just loves trees! They are vital to our survival as a species, not just for their carbon busting abilities, but for their medicinal aid, shelter and beauty. If you’re a teacher there are some great sites to help you celebrate Cool Australia National Tree Day and Planet Ark Tree Day. I’m in awe of their underground network and connection to each other, and for the wellbeing they emanate. If you’ve ever hugged, been surrounded by, or simply touched a tree, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Please send your tree poetry to ozchildrenspoetry@gmail.com
Australian Children’s Poetry 