by Douglas Malloch (1877-1938)
The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
That stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king,
But lived and died a common thing.
The man who never had to toil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man,
But lived and died as he began.
Good Timber does not grow on ease
The stronger wind, the tougher trees,
The farther sky, the greater length,
By sun and cold, by rain and snows,
In tree or man good timber grows.
Where thickest stands the forest growth,
We find the patriarchs of both,
And they hold converse with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife,
This is the common law of life.
This morning, I happened upon this beautiful poem. The version I read was credited to an anonymous writer. Googling the title to be sure the writer of poem wasn’t known, Douglas Malloch was credited. I wonder what challenges Mr. Malloch faced causing him to create this beautiful piece? As a writer and poet, my best work comes from the darkest days.
Conversing with the stars, there are no better companions than those with battle wounds. For those in life that don’t stand for something fall for everything. Battle scars are always messy. Lethal adversaries steal away our most precious comrades. Cancer devastated my life in that way, as it has for so many. Covid now robs us of peace of mind, while politicians tear away our freedoms.
Remember today, anything worth having is worth protecting. Our way of life in America is the best in the world. If you don’t believe that, you’ve obviously not found it necessary to escape, penniless, into the dark of a Russian night in 1977, trying to escape back to the America you miss so much. You have not stood in hours waiting for two kilograms of horse sausage because you consumed any eaten protein in weeks. You haven’t seen two women bloodied and fighting over the two last rotten apples in a barrel. You haven’t seen the void eyes of uniformed children, brainwashed in the ways of their government. You haven’t lived communism, as I did.
Our oldest citizens know sacrifice, hunger, and love of country. They lived through the Great War. They were the original GREEN citizens, everything repurposing, reused, and recycled. They valued quality, because things needed to last for a very long time. They had mad survival skills, because, they needed to survive some terrible times.
We find ourselves in that situation now. There is one big difference. In order to be Good Timber, we need to find other like minded patriarchs with whom to converse with the stars. Our thick stand of family and friends help to protect from the winds and strife we face.
Just some thoughts as I go to clean a little country church this morning. Stay strong in whatever life is throwing your way. Keep moving forward. As a famous prince would advise us, you just need to Better Up. Have a great day.