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ANOTHER ANGLE: June 26, 2006: Of Trees and Thankfulness By The Rev. Joey N. Welsh joey_n_welsh@hotmail.com Of Trees and Thankfulness I have seen Robert Brock, Artistic Director of Kentucky Repertory Theatre at Horse Cave, present The Revelation of John as a one person performance piece several times. I had that pleasure twice at the theatre and three other times in church sanctuaries (two of those churches were congregations I served as pastor). I hope to see Robert present The Gospel of Mark later this year at KY Rep. Revelation tells of tree of life Though Revelation is full of vivid action pictures that Robert paints with his telling of the words of scripture, one of the most striking images for me is from the last chapter, a portrayal of consoling peace: "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. "On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him." (Revelation 22:1-3) I like the vision of that tree and the feeling of reconciliation it gives. Actually, I like trees in general, in every season here in Kentucky, and I especially enjoy the leafy green vistas on a summer drive. Poets also have liked trees a lot. Perhaps the most popular (and overused) poem about trees is by Joyce Kilmer. ("I think that I shall never see/A poem as lovely as a tree"). My own personal favorite tree poem is by another writer. John Ciardi was son of immigrants John Ciardi (1916-1986) was the son of immigrants, born in the Italian enclave of Boston. He grew up to be a prominent teacher, poet, etymologist and translator. His translations of the classic works of Dante Alighieri are widely esteemed. His book on poetry appreciation, How Does a Poem Mean?, has been used broadly over the years in college literature classes. He taught at several universities, including Harvard and Rutgers. Encountered him years ago on NPR I encountered him years ago on National Public Radio when he presented wonderful and witty features on etymology - the history and derivation of words. Those features ran for several years, right up until his death on Easter Sunday 1986, and some of them can be accessed still in the Public Radio online archives. Author learned greater appreciation of words from Ciardi Until I heard John Ciardi's word histories, I presumed that the word decimate meant total destruction. Derived from decimus, the Latin word for one-tenth (the same word that gives us the term decimal), decimate actually means that something - an army, a crop, or population of a city, for instance - has been reduced by 10%, leaving 90% intact. This is hardly total devastation! On another Ciardi program I learned that dilapidate comes from the Latin word lapis, meaning stone. This term also gives us the words lapidary - an adjective associated with gemstones and the people who cut and polish them - as well as the Mexican word lapida (gravestone). Though we think of dilapidated as referring to anything that is worn or rundown, it originally described only stone structures that had begun to crumble and lose some of their stones. I owe John Ciardi a lot for igniting in me a fascination with words. Debt owed Ciardi on his appreciation of catalpa tree I also owe him something for writing my favorite tree poem. We are just over the brief season of flowering of catalpa trees in Kentucky. Around here catalpa trees are decorated with their white clusters of blooms in late May or early June. In the Northeast, where John Ciardi lived, the catalpa blooms usually reach their peak later in the month. The magnificent catalpa in Horse Cave, at Main Street and Highway 31-W, had already passed its glory days of this season when I saw it on my way through town on June 5. Ciardi cherished his catalpa for its one brief week of flowering glory. The rest of the year he found it to be an arboreal challenge, shedding troublesome pods with regularity. Ciardi, who was born on June 24, usually was able to enjoy his catalpa blooms each summer as he turned another year older. He wrote of his catalpa with love and respect, as well as with some irritation. Would have just celebrated his 90th birthday yesterday Had he lived, John Ciardi would have been 90 years old yesterday. In memory of him, and in honor of the recent glorious blossoms of the Horse Cave (and other) catalpa trees, I share his words. The catalpa tree may not be as significant as the tree of life referenced in Revelation 22, but I find it to be a compellingly impressive paladin of the splendor of God's creation. The Catalpa The catalpas white week is ending there in its corner of my yard. It has its arms full of its own flowering now, but the least air spins off a petal and a breeze lets fall whole coronations. There is not much more of what this is. Is every gladness quick? That trees a nuisance, really. Long before the summers out, its beans, long as a stick ,will start to shed. And every year one limb cracks without falling off and hangs there dead till I get up and risk my neck to trim what it knows how to lose but not to shed. I keep it only for this one white pass. The end of Junes its garden; July, its Fall; all else, the world remembering what it was in the seven days of its visible miracle. What should I keep if averages were all? This story was posted on 2006-06-25 07:18:49
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