autumnal equinox
September 22nd, 2007
i want to be a tree. i want my fingers to burst into the mittens of a sassafras tree or the pointed stars of a maple or the curve of a birch. i want my paper leaves to shake in the wind. i want the cool of autumn to stream across my hundred thousand parts and turn me red and orange and yellow: the colors of fire, the colors of sun, the colors of day and night and tears and laughing out loud. i want to sigh in a storm and let go. i want to watch as my body sheds itself in a hurricane of paper. i want to bury into myself for winter, my bones exposed.
2 Responses to “autumnal equinox”
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If I were a tree I would be Holly tree because I love their pointy leaves… or is Holly a bush?
beautifully said. I think I would be an aspen. I like that they the leaves twist and flutter in the slightest of breezes,”they grow in large colonies derived from a single seedling, and spreading by means of root suckers; new stems in the colony may appear at up to 30–40 m from the parent tree. Each tree only lives for 40–150 years above ground, but the root system of the colony is long-lived, in some cases for many thousands of years, sending up new trunks as the older trunks die off above ground. For this reason it is considered to be an indicator of ancient woodlands. One such colony in Utah, given the nickname of “Pando”, is claimed to be 80,000 years old, making it possibly the oldest living colony. They are able to survive intense forest fires as the roots are below the heat of the fire, with new sprouts growing after the fire is out. However, aspens do not thrive very well in the shade, and it is difficult for aspen seedlings to grow in an already mature aspen stand. Fire indirectly benefits aspen trees, as it allows the saplings to flourish in open sunlight on account of the burned landscape.” Who can thrive in the shade? We all need sun. Nevada could be a great place to live- the desert can be an oasis.