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7/31/2019 The Trees of Surprise Edited by Marjorie Norris Book Preview
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The Trees of Surprise by Marjorie Norris
Copyright 2007
Published by BlazeVOX [books]
All rights reserved. All rights return to authors upon publication. No part
of this book may be reproduced without the publishers written permission,except for brief quotations in reviews.
Printed in the United States of America
Book design by Geoffrey Gatza
First Edition
ISBN: 1-934289-6 ISBN 13: 978-1-934289-66-2Library of Congress Control Number: 2007931778Cover Art Priscilla Bowen, Unexpected"
BlazeVOX [books]
14 Tremaine Ave
Kenmore, NY 14217
publisher of weird little books
BlazeVOX [ books ]
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents _____________________________________________________3
Dedication____________________________________________________________ 7
Introduction __________________________________________________________ 9
October 13, 2006 _____________________________________________________13
red bud _____________________________________________________________ 14
Smallest Tree, Largest Love ___________________________________________ 15
Dance for the Trees___________________________________________________ 16
October Surprise _____________________________________________________ 17
Haiku _______________________________________________________________ 18
March Willows _______________________________________________________ 19
Nests________________________________________________________________ 20
Our City Trees _______________________________________________________ 21
Loblolly Pine ________________________________________________________ 22
The Shadow at the Core_______________________________________________ 23
Lilac Tree ___________________________________________________________25
My Yggdrasil _________________________________________________________ 26
The October Day _____________________________________________________ 28
Visualize_____________________________________________________________ 29
Lights Out___________________________________________________________ 30
Going _______________________________________________________________ 31
The Crown __________________________________________________________ 32
Into the Perfect Air of October _________________________________________ 33
Autumnal Virgin Storm _______________________________________________ 34
Sunshine ____________________________________________________________35
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Crazy in October _____________________________________________________ 36
They are All Willows _________________________________________________ 37
A Winter Afternoon, and Everyone Sighing _____________________________ 38
For Leslie ___________________________________________________________ 39
Tumbling ___________________________________________________________ 41
Locust ______________________________________________________________ 43
Bliss ________________________________________________________________ 44
Forest Lawn Fall Morning_____________________________________________ 46
Remains of winter ____________________________________________________ 47
Falling Trees_______________________________________________________ 48
Trees _______________________________________________________________ 50
Trees _______________________________________________________________ 51
Trees _______________________________________________________________ 52
October Storm Surprise ______________________________________________ 53
No More Pears _______________________________________________________ 54
In Recognition and Reverence _________________________________________ 55
Bees ________________________________________________________________ 56
Waiting _____________________________________________________________ 57
Poplars _____________________________________________________________ 58
Trees _______________________________________________________________ 59
A Sudden Loss ______________________________________________________ 60
The Trees of Fall_____________________________________________________ 61
Rememberings_______________________________________________________ 62
The Coat Tree _______________________________________________________ 63
Tree of Life__________________________________________________________ 64
Comrades in Arms ___________________________________________________ 65
City of Trees_________________________________________________________ 67
A Cry for the Trees ___________________________________________________ 69
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October trees ________________________________________________________ 71
The Whipping Tree___________________________________________________ 73
Trees________________________________________________________________ 74
Gods Creation _______________________________________________________ 75
TREES USED TO SPEAK TO ME MORE THAN THEY DO NOW________ 76
Prescription: A Fall Road Trip for the End of a Love Affair _______________ 77
Touching Cedars _____________________________________________________79
Leaves ______________________________________________________________ 80
Two Trees ___________________________________________________________81
Sally Johnsons Apple Tree ____________________________________________ 83
The Trees ___________________________________________________________84
The Progenitor_______________________________________________________ 85
From My Window ____________________________________________________86
Dancers and Saints ___________________________________________________ 87
Blossom Anyway _____________________________________________________88
Listening ____________________________________________________________89
Healing the Wound___________________________________________________ 90
To a Dry Elm ________________________________________________________ 91
A Broken Branch _____________________________________________________ 92
Not the Same Hereafter _______________________________________________93
The Snow is Falling __________________________________________________ 95
My Blueberry Tree ______________________________________________________ 96
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Dedication
And the wind said:May you be as strong as the oak,yet flexible as the Birch,may you stand tall as the Redwood,live gracefully as the Willow,and may peace and prosperity
surround you all of your days.
Tree of Life Inspirationswww.treeol.com
Id like to thank Anne Ritenour for her original view of this book and help at its
start, also Liz Walczak for her gracious response to written contributions andphotographs, to Tim Maggio and Kathy Mecca as well as my children Marie Norris-
Baxter and Mark Norris and Marks wife, Michelle Norris, for being there to support
the communitys Karpeles Museum event on October 13, 2007, the first anniversary
of the Trees of October Surprise. Much appreciation for the remarkable talent of
Priscilla Bowen, whose paintings grace the cover and inside of this anthology and
Linda Lavid, for her part in cover design. Gratitude to Talia Roth for herremarkable photograph on the back. Much thanks to Just Buffalo Literary Center,
Arts Council in Buffalo and Erie County, Buffalo News and Artvoice, local radio and
TV stations, Talking Leaves and Barnes and Noble as well as amazon.com for getting
the word out. And thank you, all, contributors throughout Western New York andother climes, you know who you are, and all you mean to me. May we be
strengthened in our loss of the trees and our appreciation for them, wise ancestors
all.
Marjorie Norris, editor, Trees of Surprise*Author of Two Suns, Two Moons, Aventine Press, 2005*
Resilience, Aventine Press 2007*
*All available at Talking Leaves Bookstore, Buffalo, New York or amazon.com
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Introduction
I want to thank all the Western New Yorkers who have presented
their wonderful writing, art and photographs to create this anthology.These words celebrate our lost trees and remember the trees that have
meant so much to us in our childhoods and beyond.
It seems trees hold our strength for us, some of our internalworld, as well as the outer. They are great archetypes. Trees areloved, painted, photographed, sat and made love under, climbedin, and hugged. Trees are, as humans can be, large and lofty. Andbabies, in their buggies, stare up and out into the wide sky throughthe kaleidoscopic canopies of their leaves.
Many spring days, strolling around the periphery of the golf course atDelaware Park, I have walked so enjoyably and long as to find theMarch trees seeming to walk toward me, rather than I toward them.Of course, this is an optical illusion, as when the Niagara River seems
still and I, the watcher, seem to be moving South just looking at it.These are the wonders of our earth and water, our steadfast rootsand images. We have lost so much of them, yet nature has provided
more.
May it always be this way.
Marjorie Norris, Editor
Trees of Surprise will be available for sale at the first anniversary celebrationand book signing Saturday, October 13, 2007 at Karpeles Museum, 453 Porter Avenue,
Buffalo, New York 14201. The time is 4 pm to 6 pm. Each one of our contributors willreceive a complimentary copy for their writing or photos, and others will be available for
sale at a nominal price. Remember, they make great holiday gifts!
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Trees of Surprise
One of the Many Fine Times
Priscilla Bowen
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October 13, 2006
It was so beautiful the morning of the storm. I proudlypointed out to a visitor that the broad-armed maple on our front
lawn was at the height of its color. He agreed, it was an
exquisite sight. Later in the day I stood on the porch watching
the rain coat the grass and leaves, and was delighted by the
reds and oranges and sunny yellows glazed by a thin, clear filmof ice. It was a shimmering fairy world.
Then I heard the first crack. Startling, loud. It came from the
next block. And then another crack. This one seemed to comefrom just down the street. Soon another and another until I was
afraid the neighborhood was falling apart. The splintering noise
alarmed me and I hid inside.All evening and night and into the next day, sounds like a
bullwhip on bare flesh, over and over again. From the window
I watched the arch of trees above the street fall in on itself. And
our lovely maple, limb after limb, arms breaking off at the shoulders,
its decades of nurtured symmetry interrupted by the sudden exposure
of harsh, black, anorexic elbows pointing to the sky.It was dreadful and frightening. Helpless tears wet my cheeks.
From enchantment to grief in such a short time.
Madeline DavisWilliamsville, New York
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red bud
she stood near our front doorwhere she housed the finches
and welcomed the paper boy
late afternoons when neighbors dropped by
she looked fragile and shy unlike the oaks and elms
around the yards perimeterbut strong nonetheless
she outlived by years
dire warnings of landscape professionalswho saw her as half-dead
her arms stretched across the front yardwhen her tiny blossoms burst through their shells
each May we were startled into spring
then lulled through summers heat
with her cooling shade
even in winter the twinkling lights
wrapped around her branches kept our spirits high
it will be hard now
to mark the seasonswithout her
hard to recognize soft changes
without this friend
Margaret CusackWilliamsville, NY
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Smallest Tree, Largest Love
In the garden, shaped like a pentagon,The two foot tree stands half-fallen,
She shows no fear,
Her bark is gray and frail
She breathes small breaths with hesitation
But shows no blossomShe stares into the sun
If she fails, shell rest in peace
Knowing she was ours
Chelsea BlackmanAge: 11, Clarence, NYStudent of Margaret Cusack, Ledgeview Elementary School
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Dance for the Trees(for Stan)
Tree- half blooming with bursting, luxuriating pink blossoms
- half dead from the stormLeaning my head and belly into herWhat do you feel I ask
It was a shift for usA chance to move into new forms
You have been through such a shift
Our dead limbs mean as much to us as your old baggage to you
Our life force moves into new paths, the living limbs
We know new vitality, new eddies of energy
She pulls me to her blooming side
So that I can feel it in my body
Anne Marie WorthyBuffalo, New York
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October Surprise
In that melancholy time of late afternoonThe snow begins
Falls through the stained glass colors
Of October leaves
Floats slowly down like quiet dreams
Builds in drifts along the branchesPiles around thick trunks
Weighs down the brilliant leaves
Deeper and deeperThrough the night the darkness fills with
Staccato cracks and crashes,
Snow thunder and windFinally silence returns and
In a stark morning light the trees stand crippled
With broken leafless branches and
Shattered bodies remnants
Of their once strong and beautiful selves
Wood still alive withYears of struggle and growth
They seem surprised themselves andTheir surprise echoes our own
At the shock and grief we feel
Surprise at our sense of shared pain and loss
Surprise at our new sense of
Their importance in our lives
Sally JohnsonGasport, New York
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Haiku
Crimson, bronze, gold fireIn snow they fall like ashes
New life for tired earth
Sally JohnsonGasport, NY
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March Willows
A white cold windWhips around the trees
Forces evenstay-all-winter geeseTo hide huddled under the canal bridge
Against a pewter sky willow branches
Catch and hold a few scattered glimpses of
Pale sun
Ice-tipped and brittle brown buds
Swell under a colorless frosty glaze
Lustrous yellow stems waveIn frantic spiral patterns
Everyone else has given upThe summer garden lays lifeless
Wild raspberries and bare shrubs bend low
Under still deep snowSmall creatures in
Tiny winter homes
Sleep on and onBut the willow trees know its March
The willow trees believe in Spring
Sally JohnsonGasport, NY
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Nests
They are webbed firmly into the crookOf branches tested by winds and snow---
By storms blowing in fast from the lake
To crash scree against the shore.
Branches crack and sliver off
But still the abandoned nests hold--Those dried twigs strapped together
Weaved as monuments
To families grown and gone:Yet they still wait.
Linda DrajemBuffalo, NY
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Our City Trees
Clipped and shaved headsTortured by storm and by neglect
They wave black arms in snow-laden streets
With raw wounds of sawed branches.
Bony limbs left to rot
Turn inward to meditate on lossAnd if blame, then that too.
Like our city they were abandoned
To send out wild leaves each springIn streams of air exhaled from factories
Trying to keep a city alive,
The rush of tramping feetBleeds energy that has weaned us
From savoring those bowers
Those umbrella shoulders that shelter
And keep strong hope.
Now the cracked and crazed trees tell our story.
Linda DrajemBuffalo, New York
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Loblolly Pine
A name derived from moist depressionsAlso thick gruel or muddy mire
Now favors bottomlands in the South
Grows dense and tall near the Gulf
But dreams of sisters up North
Frozen pine and spruceBurdened with snow and weak roots
Squared jaw against the blizzard
Eager to hold but wind-tossed
No lob lollyingin this climate
No relaxing by a golf courseOr serenading a constant sunTo whistle in gentle breezes
Accompanied by a cicada orchestra
These sisters and brothers tooStand tall away from depressions
Stand firm and only lollygag
When spring arrives to hint of southern air
Linda DrajemBuffalo, New York
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The Shadow at the Core
The apples were green,Too tart and small to eat,
But Grandma lapped them
In her bib apron and
Made sweet, juicy strudels.
This was her humble tree,Not the kind to entice Snow White
Or harbor serpents.
That is why the
Man in the Brown Hat
Startled us,Showing up so brazenly
One Tuesday night
Under Grandmas apple tree.
His long shadow
Crept toward our windowAs if knowing Mom was out
Bowling at Lucky Strike Lanes,
As if seeing Dad with hisWrinkled brown bag
Leave for the graveyard shift
At Bethlehem.
Yes, while lights flickered
Black and white inside andOur little heads whirled with
Tales from Alcoa Presents,
The Man in the Brown HatBroke into Grandmas tree
And stood his ground.
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What a long night it was,
Left as we were in
P.J.s, our only armor.Nowhere to hide,
No fairy godmother to
Stop the invaderAnd, in hindsight,
Nothing did stop the siege.
Though summers of apples
Continued tumbling onto
Doughy laps,The tree itself never did grow taller,
While the silhouette of theMan in the Brown HatSeemed to swell, spilling
Over picnics and
Puddles of apples,
Now turning brown,
Under Grandmas Apple Tree.
Carol PasiecznikBuffalo, New York
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Lilac Tree
Is that snow, love, clinging to the limbs of the tree, orwarm sleeves of light instead? Quavering, uncertain
she spoke. Their love, intently studied under the microscope,
is cracked and its patina is worn thin.
Surprisingly, snow fell in October this year.Trunks split from the weight and
Branches hang like impotent members
Of an arboreal army.
Daily, as the sun pushed the horizon away
Like an unwelcome guest,Another Woman snuck quietly into their home.
Always the Gentleman, He held the door open for Her.
Legs splayed like broken limbs
They tainted history on the living room floor.
Now alone, she sits in her home.Gazing out at the soft,
Budding potential of her cherished lilac tree.
Wavering sleeves of light diffract throughThe bubbled glass and feel warm on her face.
AnonymousBuffalo, NY
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My Yggdrasil
You reach into the world
From the place I set you to earth,
A twig that shouldnt have lasted a winter,
Now scraping the bottoms of clouds,
Rooted below the world,Deeper than Ive grown,
And towering above me, ages old.
How can that be? I planted you
In my lifetime,
Liar!
Are you myaxis mundi,Grown beyond expectation?
And I, who stand at your base,Am I so much older
Than the child who planted you,
Climbed you before your time?
How long ago
Did I set dry twig to earth?Am I ancient now?
Youve outgrown my reach
In brief decades, left me on earthWhile you ascended the sky.
Wholl climb you now?
Go back and be a twig again;
Grow when it suits you.
Ill be waiting to climb youWhen youre ready. I wont be
Too old by then,
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Yggdrasil,World Tree,
Liar!
David Park MusellaAmherst, New York
Center for Inquirys coordinatorLiterary events, first Wednesday of month