Poems, in honor of Portland Arbor Day
Here in Portland, October is a more reliable month to plant young trees than the traditional April of National Arbor Day established 150 years ago in Nebraska City, Nebraska. Portland Arbor Day 2024 is Saturday, October 12th.
To honor our city’s arbor day, below we publish poems written by Jordana Leeb, member of the Concordia Tree Team.
Fernhill Park
I love these trees
Proud and tall
Shading us from extreme heat
Blaring sun
Beautiful and full
Dropping chestnuts, cones, needles, fruits, leaves
Communicating underground
With each other
Complicated language
We don’t yet understand
Thank you for being
For serving our community
For sheltering birds and squirrels and bugs and bees
For weathering storms
Human-caused and “natural.”
Ainsworth Linear Arboretum
I walk down
The straight and narrow path
Trees in a line
Thriving to varying degrees
Leading the way
New and old
Big and small
Tended by many hands
Surrounded on all sides by
More trees, houses, neighbors, businesses
Windchimes singing a tune
The ground crinkles below me
With each step
Crunching the leaves and acorns
A smile and hello from a dogwalker
Three cuties in tow
I make my way
Through the community.
Fall Squirrel in Wilshire Park
How sweet
Your little paws
Pat, pat, pat
The dirt atop your buried nut
After you
Dug, dug, dug
The earth away
I delight in watching
This simple act of nature
Wonder
Preparing for winter
Repeat
Again and again
Across the park.
