Sunday Morning on the Planet: Trees

Especially in this heat, we treasure our trees, soaking up the sun, holding back the clamor from the nearby road, keeping us sane. Here’s a favorite poem for many on the subject by the revered W.S. Merwin, courtesy of Garrison Keillor’s lively Writer’s Almanac:

Trees

I am looking at trees
they may be one of the things I will miss
most from the earth
though many of the ones I have seen
already I cannot remember
and though I seldom embrace the ones I see
and have never been able to speak
with one
I listen to them tenderly
their names have never touched them
they have stood round my sleep
and when it was forbidden to climb them
they have carried me in their branches