{"id":3464397,"date":"2016-12-23T10:55:40","date_gmt":"2016-12-23T10:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.resilience.org\/?p=3464397"},"modified":"2020-12-15T17:30:18","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T17:30:18","slug":"baby-trees-on-the-winter-solstice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/stories\/2016-12-23\/baby-trees-on-the-winter-solstice\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby Trees on the Winter Solstice"},"content":{"rendered":"
NOTE: Images in this archived article have been removed.<\/div>\n

I. Hope<\/b><\/p>\n

I planted them with the hope<\/p>\n

That my foolish culture will soon desist in its<\/p>\n

Suicidal efforts to sever the ties<\/p>\n

Between humans and the Earth<\/p>\n

The hope that my little efforts can help point others<\/p>\n

The way back into the fold, the way<\/p>\n

Out of the tangle of deceit woven<\/p>\n

By the dutiful soldiers of the culture of death<\/p>\n

The hope that in a few years<\/p>\n

Or a few tens of years,<\/p>\n

My grandchildren will pluck a ripe<\/p>\n

Peach off the tree and its juice<\/p>\n

Will run down their chins<\/p>\n

And fingers and drip off their elbows<\/p>\n

And their eyes will close<\/p>\n

With laughter<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

II. Fear<\/b><\/p>\n

I planted them with the fear<\/p>\n

That my culture has gone too far<\/p>\n

In its efforts to erase the ties<\/p>\n

Between humans and the Earth<\/p>\n

The fear that the insults have been<\/p>\n

Too severe, the cuts too deep,<\/p>\n

the wounds too grave,<\/p>\n

the necessary bonds frayed beyond repair<\/p>\n

The fear that in a few years<\/p>\n

Or a few tens of years<\/p>\n

My grandchildren will find<\/p>\n

Them withered or burnt or diseased<\/p>\n

Or broken by the axes of war<\/p>\n

And small tears will run down their cheeks<\/p>\n

And drip onto their dry little hands<\/p>\n

And their eyes will close<\/p>\n

With tiredness<\/p>\n

III. Love<\/b><\/p>\n

I planted them with the love<\/p>\n

The singing, ancient, unrelenting love<\/p>\n

That my culture has not yet destroyed<\/p>\n

Between humans and the Earth<\/p>\n

The love that began with the beginning of time<\/p>\n

In the forests, rivers, deserts, shorelines, grasslands<\/p>\n

And that, while now beleaguered, can grow again<\/p>\n

As love is known to do<\/p>\n

The love that in a few years<\/p>\n

Or a few tens of years<\/p>\n

My grandchildren will feel<\/p>\n

When the green, leaf-dappled sun<\/p>\n

Falls on their small upturned faces<\/p>\n

And they will mouth<\/p>\n

The sorts of heart-melting little devotions<\/p>\n

That children invent in<\/p>\n

Their secret shining souls<\/p>\n

And their eyes will close<\/p>\n

In prayer<\/u>
\n\"Image<\/p>\n

IV. Resistance<\/b><\/p>\n

I planted them with a raised fist.<\/p>\n

I planted the chestnuts, pears, peaches, oaks, apples, pawpaws<\/p>\n

Hickories, persimmons, elderberries, pecans, cherries,<\/p>\n

Hazels, mulberries, apricots, willows, plums, blueberries<\/p>\n

Walnuts, maples, locusts, all of them<\/p>\n

Just because when confronted with<\/p>\n

The grave injustice that is our culture<\/p>\n

The only sane response is resistance<\/p>\n

And the only moral imperative is action<\/p>\n

And the planting of a tree<\/p>\n

Or a dozen or a thousand, or 300 million<\/p>\n

Is the necessary first step<\/p>\n

Of the ten thousand first steps<\/p>\n

We must travel<\/p>\n

From this beautiful icy solstice morning<\/p>\n

To the end of our days,<\/p>\n

Carrying our hope, fear, love, and resistance<\/p>\n

With us<\/p>\n

Like the prayer<\/p>\n

Of a child<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I planted them with the hope
\nThat my foolish culture will soon desist in its
\nSuicidal efforts to sever the ties
\nBetween humans and the Earth<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128238,"featured_media":3484443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-images-removed.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[213522,79720,213535],"tags":[97757,212734],"class_list":["post-3464397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration","category-society","category-society-featured","tag-culturalstories","tag-poetry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3464397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/128238"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3464397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3464397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3484443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3464397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3464397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3464397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}