I never had a lying tree, but I love to ponder the fun it would have been with one.
Lying Tree
If I stood you by a sapling tree
When you were only three
And carved a tiny bar
Above your head,
Then took you there today,
Four years tall with a grin grown wide,
We'd laugh as we watched
the sapling sway as if saying,
"My how much you've grown!"
But we're not fooled,
We're playing games,
We knew you grew, but then . . .
That lying tree grew too.
© 2006 Jim Ross
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Comments: 6
Most impressive is the character development invested in the sapling, it is also a "child", it has a "bar" like a scar (cautious choice of word), it sways in the wind, it keeps history with the perspective of one who also grows, it plays games, and even tells imaginary "lies" that aren't really lies at all.
Lying Tree reads with the childlike simplicity of Sesamie Street with a complexity an adult would enjoy.
Thanks for your post – it was a joy to read this lovely poem.