Poetry Friday ~ Happy & Morose

Hi, everyone! Welcome!

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There once was a tall oak tree who lived in a small forest. Night and day it complained about its noisy leaves. It protested when the leaves sang songs with the wind. It grumbled about the music they made when it rained.

One day a blue jay landed on one of its limbs and overheard the oak gripe about its noisy leaves.

“You know,” the blue jay said. “I once knew a cactus who lived alone in the middle of the desert. He was a sad and lonely thing with no one to talk to. The snakes, scorpions and other desert creatures avoided him, for he had sharp spikes all over its skin.”

“What has that to do with me,” the tree grumbled.

“Well, every time I land on one of your branches I hear you complain about your leaves.”

“So what,” the tree said.

“The last thing the cactus told me before it died of a lonely heart was that it wished its prickles were leaves, so that it may hear their melody,” the bird said.

“If I never hear another leaf sing I would be a happy tree!”

“That is a horrible thing to say,” the bird said, fluttering its blue feathers. “Your leaves are beautiful and the rhythm they make with the wind and the rain is enchanting. They also attract all kinds of birds, snakes, and squirrels. Your days and nights are filled with cheerful pieces of music, laughter and conversation.

“I don’t need music, laughter or conversation. I just want silence!” the tree yelled.

The bird flew away.

One hot, dry summer day a fire broke out in the small forest. Some of the animals escaped the wildfires but many were killed. The crown fire burned the trees up their length to the very top, and few survived.

The tall grumbling oak did survive, but it was no more than a scorched and leafless trunk with naked limbs. None of the nearby trees survived and were chopped down. The colorful birds and animals were gone and only soot and smoke remained. The oak’s world was gray and silent.

Months passed in a blur. The oak tree began to miss the happy lilting of its leaves and their verdant color. “If only I could hear them sing once more I’d be a happy tree.”

A year passed in the blink of an eye and the sad and lonely oak tree was ready to give up. He thought about the beautiful lush canopy it once had, full of lively green leaves. He missed their songs and music and the birds and animals they invited.

Every night the oak prayed. “Mother Gaia, please return my leaves, so that I may hear them sing with the wind.” But every morning he awoke to bare branches. The pain of living in silence, in complete solitude was too much to bear.

As the life began to seep out of its heartwood, he noticed a little green sprout coming out of the ground a couple of feet from him.

“Little sprout,” the oak tree said. “Grow tall with a strong heartwood and a huge canopy made verdant by a myriad of leaves. Always be grateful for what you have. And, be careful what you wish for because you might just get it.” And with those words the oak tree left the world of the living.

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Do not wish away

the cheerful things in your life

on your grumpy days

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Happy and Morose are this week’s prompt words chosen by Colleen Chesebro ~ The Fairy Whisperer. *The catch is that we can only use the synonyms to these words in our poems.

Colleen hosts a challenge that anyone could participate in called, Colleen’s Weekly Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challenge every Tuesday, and you have until Sunday to create a post featuring your Haiku, Tanka, Haibun or Cinquain poem. She is an author and poet, and also does book reviews and so much more on her blog. Be sure to check it out.

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Enjoy your day!

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