Grandfather's 80th Birthday

Happy 80^th birthday Grandpa!

Elder Cedar

In the heart of the forest is the cedar that grows

Through canopies, through drought and rain, through time itself

Of merry birds and upfronted squirrels, of forest cats and silent owls, knows

Shelters them in fragrant boughs, cradles them in bark soft

Within the guard of scratching scales green and smooth

A dragon's defense on the tree of life that snatches the beams of sun aloft

To infuse the forest with the sun's gay energy and life

Holding up ferns and mosses to the sky

With green and gray, furred and feathered, is rife

The cedar proud and strong in the heart of the forest,

Majestic swooping bough tips brush the leaders of the young

Who sprout with youthful fever from the form of cedars past

Those of whom the wailing wind in the trees has sung

In the memory of the wind ever may they last

Even as their accumulated elements of the forest

Are dispersed among the new generation

Absorbed into the future as it rises

And begins its own accumulation.

Green in the Forest

Vibrant green are the trunks in moss sweaters

Of the graceful maples trees

That arise from the forest floor to support the peace

Found within the green shade of a deciduous canopy,

Soft green frills of ferns festooning the boughs

Ruffle gaily on the sunward side

Merry adornment the seasons round

On the big leaf maple bide,

Upon these trees the upfronted squirrels

Chatter without surcease

And raindrops are held in abeyance

Waiting for release,

In winter time the sun will shine

Gilding all its rays can reach

Golden green where tis seldom seen

Where in summer the canopy grows un-breached,

Shafts of sunlight show winter mist

Among the cedars evergreen

The magic of a photon's journey

When its life is quick and keen,

Eight minutes out from the Sun to Earth

Where its life goes to excite electrons

In a chlorophyll filled leaf

Unless green is the nature of the photon,

Green photons rebound, reflect

To where its fellows in profusion churn

Coloring the forest its famous hue

Where the leaves have yet to turn,

Green are the photons of the forest

The photons that catch the eye

Tis green cones that signal our mind

When in forests we spy,

Cool green are the ginger leaves

The hearts beside the stream

Lightly fragrant the water cleansed air

Where we come to dream.