If I Knew The Name Of Every Tree I See Poem by Shalom Freedman

IF I KNEW THE NAME OF EVERY TREE I SEE

If I knew the name of every tree I see
Could I translate to words
What the eyes alone can give?

If I said pine and beech and fig
Birch and palm and date
Sycamore maple and cypress
Olive and peach and pomegranate
Lemon and orange and apricot
Apple cherry and lilac
Almond and pear
Beech


Would I in any way
Touch their taste and flavor
Their scent and symbol?

I don’t believe so

I love to see so many different trees
Named and unnamed
Green-leaved and wisely mysterious

I do not know the name of every tree I see
Nor do I see each tree nearby
Yet life has its flowers and its trees
And Beauty has its names and silences