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Poems by Lois Barton
Voices of Spencer Creek Valley
Poems from the Sunny Side of Spencer Butte
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Wild Trees - Tame Trees
by Lois Barton
Wild Christmas trees for sale!
That's what the sign said.
Who would buy an untamed tree
that might create an uproar
on Christmas morning?
Would it shy from the children in fear?
Would it burst from its mooring
and dance for joy
in honor of the occasion,
ornaments swinging wildly?
What is a tame Christmas tree?
One of nature's perfect creations
shorn of its graceful arm
that responded to wind and rain
and summer suns?
Clipped to a sterile pyramid,
all individuality lost in artifice,
indistinguishable from ten thousand
"cultured" companions
that haunt corner lots?
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Young wild trees in Spencer Creek Valley
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Squirrel
by Lois Barton
One mild misty winter morning
when the weather was too warm for hybernation
a sleek red-brown pine squirrel
was checking out his home tree.
After frisking about the limbs
and up and down the trunk,
he bethought himself of the big fir
just across the lane.
"I'll just dash over and check that one out,"
he thought.
With a flirt of his tail
he whisked down the bank
and onto the lane, then skidded to a stop.
"Whoa, what's this?"he asked.
"A walking tree with two trunks?"
Turning on a dime he scurried back up the bank
and took cover on the far side of the tree trunk,
scolding with outrage.
"Hi, there, Cutie," I said, with a delighted smile.
"I didn't mean to interfere with your morning's work."
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