‘WHEN GREAT TREES FALL”
We have had a tough month with the passing of many stalwarts in our personal and national lives – Christine Callier for Caroline and me, as well as Dolly Parton, Wendell Berry, Gloria Steinem, and Robin Morgan. Such powerful witnesses, and whenever this happens, I like to share the poem by my fellow Arkansan Maya Angelou. It is called “When Great Trees Fall,” and here it is:
"WHEN GREAT TREES FALL" by MAYA ANGELOU
When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants lumber after safety.
When great trees fall in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond repair.
When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words, unsaid,
promised walks never taken.
Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls, dependent upon their nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their radiance,
fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance of
dark, cold caves.
And, when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed.
Thank you for sharing. I was introduced to When Great Trees Fall when Katie Geneva Cannon died. I was familiar with a number of Maya's writings, but--until then--I did not know that she also wrote about death. The last two stanzas really are impactful. I have used this poem in a number of tributes offered. Reading those particular words slowly and expressively, especially "We can be. Be and be better. For they existed."
ReplyDeleteAgain, thank you for sharing.
Best wishes to Susan on her 44th Birthday Anniversary!
Veronica
on Susan's
Thanks, Veronica!
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