LESSONS FROM THE TREES 

 

I look up

at the multitudes

of spruce and

aspen shrouding

the mountain on

a clear winter day,

and think: Not

one tree seems

to be straining,

as if on tip toe,

to reach beyond

itself. And yet

I know that—

deep inside its

marrow—

every single

living thing

wants a place

in the sun

(as the cold

sunlight and

colder shade

keep changing

places among

the trees, under

the passing clouds).

 

Stand tall,

I tell myself—

be like the spruce

on the hills, and

the aspen by

the frozen stream.

David Allan Evans was appointed poet laureate of South Dakota by the governor in 2002. He is the author of many books and chapbooks of poetry. He’s gotten writing grants from the NEA and the Bush Foundation, and has been a Fulbright Scholar twice to China. He lives in Sioux Falls.