To Joyce Kilmer

by Robert W. Pinkerton

Posted January, 1998

I think that I shall never see
A sadder creature than a tree
Now Mr. Kilmer, famous poet
Trees aren't lovely, and you know it
Why, it makes me cry in sympathy
The way that you romance a tree
Come walk with me, the trees you're seeing
Are worse off than a human being

All in all, you must agree
You're lucky you weren't born a tree
Your greatest troubles can't compare
With what a tree has got to bear
It can't lie down, as people may
It has to stand, both night and day
Adorned with leaves throughout the Summer
Then nude all Winter; what a bummer!

Putting up with wind and rain
You'd think a tree would go insane
It surely feels the urge to kill
As dogs relieve themselves at will
Kids and squirrels climb o'er its branches
When hunters shoot, it takes its chances
It lives through threats of lumber buyers
Lightning bolts and forest fires

When men or termites gather 'round
They eat it up...or cut it down
The blacksmith works beneath a tree
That seems alright to you and me
But trees get all that noise and heat
And blacksmiths never smell too sweet
A tree's the only thing not kissed
When party to a lover's tryst

Now can't you see, why every day
It "lifts its leafy arms to pray"?
Trees can't complain like you or I
But Joyce, just listen; hear them sigh?
They seem to know that final caper:
Winding up as toilet paper!

Robert W. Pinkerton (3/15/25 - 12/27/94) was a past master of Collingwood Lodge and a regular at meetings for 25 years. He was the First Grand Tall Ceder of The Toledo Forest of Tall Ceders of Lebanon and a 32nd Degree Mason in the Scottish Rite. He was also a past chief of Clan McGregor #271 Order of Scottish Clans. As a Shriner, he was director of the Craftsman Unit in 1985, a member of the Legion of Honor, former Captain of the Guard, and membership chairman for two years.

In 1994, he was made an Honorary Member of The A-Team which directly serves the Potentate.

A collection of Robert's poems can be found at The Feast Of Life, an e-m@son Web Ring site constructed in his memory by his daughter and son-in-law, Sandi & Mike Copeland.