GIVING YOUR ALL

Down through the years with the backyard maple tree and its love.

   GIVING YOUR ALL
 

When she was just a child, You offered a haven for play... Your sturdy limbs giving rest As they were climbed in tomboy fashion. When she was too busy in play To stop for lunch, you offered The sweetest of all picnic fare... Fruit in abundance in your season. When she first knew love You never flinched as she methodically Carved initials into your trunk To tell the world her secret. When she introduced her firstborn To the world, you offered your shade To cool his fevered brow While she sang him to sleep. When her child went off to war and did not return, In anger, hopelessness and despair She hacked you into oblivion in a futile attempt To assuage her anguish and pain. As you lay dying in the summer sun, She sat in solitude on your remaining stump, And with no apologies or remorse.... She offered you her tears. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Inspired by the book ''The Giving Tree'' By Shel Silverstein © 2019 Sharon Peeples

Reviews

[emmajoy]

'When she first knew love - You never flinched as she methodically - Carved initials into your trunk - To tell the world her secret.'

A slow painful, yet beautifully written history - laid so elegantly, start to finish in both increasingly gentle then utterly tragic scenes. Its drama turns from light to dark, from soft to extreme - even to that final phrase. Am left breathless. Tragic but - extraordinarily real.

[Miss Sharon]

I thank you ever so much for such a beautiful and heart felt review of this piece! I appreciate you. ~Sharon

[Dara]

I just came across this book a few days ago! It is such a wonderful story of giving and sacrifice. Your poem not only gives it justice it enhances the story line with your delightful poetry.

[Miss Sharon]

Thank you so much Dara for your lovely review of this write! I appreciate you. ~Sharon

[wordman]

a beautiful write miss sharon,life and love is a few stanzas

[Miss Sharon]

Thanks so much for the nice review Ron! It's always a pleasure to hear from you my friend. ~Sharon

[wordman]

you`re welcome

[Pete]

i can relate - growing up, we had a large weeping willow tree in the middle of our yard. it was like a giant umbrella. so much of our lives were spent beneath its ever-presence. it oversaw so much - was like part of the family. emotional, telling read with a heat-tugging ending. i love trees and the one you relate to us is no exception. terrific read. thanks to emmajoy for read requesting ... :)

[Miss Sharon]

Thanks so much Pete for your nice review of this write! You are much appreciated. ~Sharon

[Lydia Shutter]

What a beautifully emotional write this is, Sharon. The personification of the tree is splendid. A life story told from the perspective of a tree. Wonderful. Lydi**

[Miss Sharon]

Thank you so much Lydi for your wonderful review of this write! I really appreciate you my sweet friend. ~Sharon

[Chris Shaw]

A read request by Emma. So pleased to have the opportunity to read this poem because it reminds me very much of the trees I have loved and lost and still have in my back garden. There is one in particular that is my sentinel, standing guard, easily seen from my bedroom window. I enjoyed each stanza with its own little story through the journey of life. I just knew you would be a tree hugger Sharon :) An accomplished write, so well conveyed. Thank you.

Chris

[Miss Sharon]

LOL....yes, I suppose I am a tree hugger. Thank you for the nice review my dear. ~Sharon

[barleygirl]

Thank Emmajoy for read requesting! This is a superb poem! It's the perfect juxtaposition between startlingly fresh inventive expression, yet what you express is so deep-down familiar & relatable! Another very strong point is how much LOVE this narrator clearly feels for the tree . . . we can't help but to love this tree the same way, so the demise is all the more poignant (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Miss Sharon]

Thank you ever so much for a wonderful review of this write! Very much appreciated. ~Sharon

[Einstein Noodle]

oh my goodness Miss Sharon .. your poem has brought me to tears .. it truly has ... what a powerful, emotive poem ... reading is like going down a slide ... so natural the rhythm in your lines .. and i love trees ... setting and scene instantly pop to mind .. your closing is just killer .. i'm crying like a school girl :( you mention a maple tree in your comment ... not in the poem tho ... the maple has no fruit but syrup ... ;) i want to know the tree that is so big in her life ... in my mind apple, pear, plum .. none have the majesty of maple trees .. but they do have fruit .. hmmmmmmmmmmm ..i went a googling and what i found is that the Jack Fruit Tree is the largest and actually grows fruit that can weigh in at 100lbs. ;) great poem ... such keeper!

[Miss Sharon]

What a beautiful review...thank you so much! I shal leave you to guess about the kind of tree the poem is written about. I think it will add more special feelings and thoughts that way! (It could, after all, be a fictional tree that is different for each person according to what their needs are at that moment.) ~Sharon

[Einstein Noodle]

:))))))))))))))))))))))) yes .. for me a fictional tree does nicely ;) very magical as well