The Great Oak Poem by Kirby Wright

IT WAS A BLAZING HOT summer and the great oak was dying. Lilac and sage beneath it drowned in a cascade of leaves. Frogs fled. Birds avoided the bare branches. A boy tied a leaf to a pole and held it up to shade a bough. “Least I can do, ” he whispered. The boy realized the great oak had provided shade for years, maybe centuries, and it was time to give back. Children playing in the forest saw the boy and spread the word. Boys and girls in the village searched for poles. When the poles ran out they found sticks. Soon the great oak was sheltered from the sun. A girl raised her voice in song and the children joined in. Leaves quit falling as the great oak listened.