John Knight (8 September 1933 / Liverpool - UK)

Trees in the Winter lose their leaves
Their Autumn glory blows away,
The ground their mulch and mor receives
As in the wind bare branches sway.

The stately poplars show their shape
Oval like gherkins on a pole,
The chestnut - rounded like a cape
The weeping willow loooks quite droll.

The Winter makes us value Spring
The trees are bleak and blown and bare,
The woods are quiet - no birds sing
Except a lone owl hooting there.

The Winter winds are piercing chill
And through the hedgerow blows a gale,
White driven snow the valleys fill
Skeletal Oaks stand in the vale.

Devoid of leaves each tree reveals
Its structure - branches - twigs and trunk,
One wonders just how cold it feels
To have ones roots beneath snow sunk.

The holly makes a welcome sight
Its deep green leaves poke through the snow,
Together with red berries bright
It gives a pleasant Christmas glow.

Their cloaks of yellow, red and gold
Have leaf by leaf been blown away,
Just as a 'pop star' growing old
Loses his aura day by day.

But unlike humans trees are blest
When Winter's snows have passed away,
Each branch with bright Spring green is dressed
Each tree grows younger day by day.

(John Knight - Colchester - 8 February 2010)