Tree Poem

This poem was created by the Mindmovers, early stage group at N.E.W. Curative Rehabilitation in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Executive Director, Noreen Greatens and Program Director, Bob Kralapp of Legacies Arts Project Inc., were receiving training as part of our affiliate program.

The poem was created by asking simple questions about trees. What is your favorite? What a person might do in a tree? What animals might you find there? The answers are in order given with care taken to get the language as close to the words the person says when answering and with only light editing.

The discussion and answers grew more animated as the creation of the poem developed. Bob did a great job of getting the text down and led an exciting performance of the poem upon completion. Especially spirited was the section on the gopher and fermentation!



TREES

My favorite tree is an oak tree.
If it’s in your yard you just climb it
and you look back down and think -
I’ve got to climb all the way back down.
Then there’s a flying squirrel -
Rocky J. Squirrel.
They eat nuts and bury them.
And they jump.
It feels great.
There’s an element of confidence.
It feels like you’re moving on.

Or an apple tree.
An orchard of them.
Full of apples,
juicy and green.
The Granny Smith.
Then there’s Johnny Appleseed,
From Appleton, Wisconsin,
Famous for planting apple seeds.

The crabapple tree
has beautiful pink blossoms.
It’s in the spring.
It’s almost like snow
when the blossoms fall.
And you jump.
They sure taste juicy.
A little sour but awfully sweet.
Crabapples fall on the ground
and they ferment
and gophers eat them
and they get drunk.

That was the best kind of tree to climb -
the crabapple.
You hang from your knees
and you look and look.