The Old Tree In My College

This is about an old tree in my college, which was mercilessly cut last July.

The Old Tree in My College

 

The old tree in my college was a collage of twigs

And outward growth, nature’s forgotten poem

Which has now dried its roots

In the form of leafless answers

It had only one beginning

But many ends, a web of many  exposures

Although it kept many secrets

 

It reminded me of my mistakes,

And my dispersing intellect

In the form of skyward branches

 

The old tree in my college was a neglected institution

Hence no birds loved it, only I did

And maybe some periodic breezes.

It used to hide the evening in its termite chambers

And caress the morning amidst a dead sunrise

 

The old tree in my college was demolished some months back,

The process began years ago, since the space around it began complaining

It needed to be filled to hide the vacuum between the new and old

 

They cut it with utmost pleasure, two axmen and a coffin for its anatomy

Re-framed the broken branches to cramp them in a huge vehicle

Carried all its well-cut parts to a distant land no one had ever been to

 

The old tree in my college sadly for me

Will never grow back from its memory, only an illusion

Of a branching painting will remain before the ruined Physics

Department which today stands lonely behind it

 

Someday when we all grow old, like this tree

Our friends and sons will make plans about which part of us

To cut and dispose first

And part by part all our life’s work will be displaced

And taken away from our roots

They will cut out our existence from their own

Even the branches won’t be spared

 

Author's Note

I wrote this poem at the same place the tree was cut, and it may contain some logical mistakes. I was seventeen at that time.

Reviews

[Devons]

This is a powerfully-metaphorical and touching poem. The imagery is intense as well as the sadness of transient existence leaving all its traces behind only to be nothing in the end. It displays a wealth of imagination and deep contemplation, bringing its message hard-home to the reader like a residual ancient myth by layers upon layers of a thousand years of lost dreams. There are many very good lines, but, to choose one...

"The old tree in my college was a neglected institution
Hence no birds loved it, only I did
And maybe some periodic breezes."

And I needn't quote the best verse, it is the last, and speaks for itself.

[indieRokker]

This poem, is very much indeed a compelling one. This poems is as wise as the tree itself. To be able to write such a piece at 17 you must've been cultivated. You can take something we wouldn't think twice about and sum it into something beautiful.

Rad Job,
indie♥

[Rodrick Franklin McLare..]

'Ode' to privileged. Recognitions...

"They cut it with utmost pleasure, two axmen and a coffin for its anatomy"

Time...

Mediums of Memory. That subject the reader, to the many meanings of... Metaphor contained. In a living statuary. Now, gone. An association with an education that produce. A consistence Souls, conditioning.
Recognizing, the Truth. In it's loss...
To be removed. From a Life. This is, remonstrant! A tribute, to that which was observed. In a setting and, in a life. That share space.
That ~ Medium of Memory. The story, is evident! In its feeling, for... Time.
A Honor owed... To what was to most, an inanimate object.
Yet, to this writer...

Statement of Existence. Perfection, as seen. By Poet Masters, in training.
Upon reflection...

Superlative.
Romon in Review, 05/14 10. and added. To my Library, as Favorite.
Dig it ~ it Rocks ...Ro..

[Sara]

wow, very touching... i always think there is a sort of holiness to old trees; with their age, they have a majesty about them that you captured well in your first stanzas (collage of twigs, nature's forgotten poem, etc). i know there was a bigger metaphor here, but i especially like your take on the classic 'man versus nature' theme, portraying nature so lovingly in this dying, majestic tree, and man as this rather heartless creature who cuts it down 'with the utmost pleasure... to hide the vacuum between the new and old.' ... just a lovely poem all the way through, and those final lines are so heart-breaking... :) great job.

[Aria]

Not bad. It is simple, doesn't rhyme because a poem doesn t have to rhyme to be a poem, and it says something to the reader. It may have been about a forgotten tree when you write this but this piece, like life, can be seen and felt in a thousand different ways. Good job

[Jenny Nelson]

Very nice observations, thoughts and feelings conveyed well. Nice job!

[An owl on the moon]

There is a beautiful connection here to history and life, moving on. Also reminded me of The Giving Tree (as mentioned).. That it was somehow more than just an old tree. Well done!

[hanzabonanza]

Lovely poem- so haunting and touching...longing for something that is lost, a metaphor for life really- very original, well done :)

[Brokensoul]

It started of really well and had beautiful images and metaphors . Though the poem alludes a lot more things than what is apparent I feel you could have put the last two paras in a better manner. It's a very honest and factual piece.

[Dom Macchiaroli]

Good poem Ishan. Full of depth and meaning.
Years ago I had a tree fall over in my yard during a storm. It was dead, roots out of the ground, finished. I took a chain saw to it. After I finished and turned the saw off, I turned and saw my three year old son crying his eyes out from inside the house. When I went inside, he tried to hit me, thinking that I had cut the tree down on purpose. I took him, showed him the roots out of the ground, and that a new one would grow there. I took him with me to a tree nursery the nest day, let him pick out a tree and he helped me plant later. These are seminal moments.
Great poem my friend.

[MissWordSmith]

the metaphorical meaning in here just blows my mind away Ishan. Fanstastic work.