History

Your ancient boughs bend

over my driveway

as if to herald my coming and going

quiet majesty in simple silence

you stand strong and tall

Your history beyond all

around you, so I wonder...

Did you hear the marching of

Confederate soldiers?

Did you provide shade for

weary travelers, fleeing the

Civil War, or maybe

some freed men looking

for refuge from the

hot Florida landscape?

Was your stately form

a meeting place for

clandestine lovers?

Did settlers welcome your shade

on a grueling trek across

those few United States?

Oh, the stories you could tell,

the history that has been made

while you quietly provide

shelter, shade or a landmark.

You were a seedling at the

same time as a new nation,

your branches reaching out

as the States were gathered in.

the lines in your growth rings

a patriotic metaphor for the

lines in the Constitution and

the Bill of Rights.

Oh mighty oak tree, how I wish

I could sit under

your breath taking canopy

cooled by your shade

on a hot day

and watch history being

made those centuries ago.