I love the trees in winter. My eyes are drawn to them, to their still winter silhouettes against the changing tapestry of the skies. There’s something so clean and clear about them. Undiluted dendritic elegance.
Driving home recently, I had the sudden realization that I will miss the stark winter trees come spring. While I’ll certainly enjoy the delicate emergence of greenery, something within me cleaves to the clarity of winter tree lines. Their shapes and shadows collaborate with sky and water and snow-covered land. They resonate with me on a fundamental level. I felt an odd sense of grief at their impending transformation and a deep appreciation for their presence.
A Tree in Winter
Plant a tree
above my grave
Not one to bloom
in rubied exuberance
nor an evergreen
unchanging
season after season
Instead, plant a tree
with winter in mind
a tree that is stalwart and true
one that stretches upward
into the lingering shadows
of long, cold days
quilting the skies
at dawn and dusk,
its limbs a tracery
a testament to endurance
and a reassurance
Solace and stark beauty
in the dark, dark days
©Molly Hogan, draft
I hope my poem doesn’t come across as too dark. I really am just feeling thankful for the beauty of trees in a still somber landscape. In Maine, winter is still firmly entrenched, though every day the sun rises a touch earlier and sets a touch later. And those beautiful, beautiful trees rise above it all. Wishing you winter or early spring beauty wherever you may be.
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Nix the comfort zone 
Molly, as always your photography and poetry are just perfectly paired. “plant a tree with winter in mind” is a stunning line. Your poem is not dark–it’s contemplative for me. And, I am grateful for it. Thank you.
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Thanks, Linda. I’m glad to know this felt contemplative to you. Sometimes it’s hard to read one’s work through an objective lens!
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Molly, your poem is so lovely! It really touched me. Thank you for sharing it here.
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I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
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I too love trees in the winter time. There is a special beauty about them. Wonderful poem.
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Thanks so much. Our winter trees should soon be wearing a layer of snow with the upcoming storm!
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Molly, I don’t think your poem comes across as dark; it comes across as beautiful. I’ve come to really appreciate some of the winter scenes and moments. The sound of long-tailed ducks on a cold winter day at the beach is one.
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I’ve seen long-tailed ducks, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard them. That sounds like a wonderful experience!
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What a beautiful poem and photos!! Your post is so serene and soul nourishing. Winter certainly has its unique marvels and gifts. Thanks for the reminder and thanks for hosting this week.
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Thanks, Jama! I appreciate the beauty of winter more and more each year, even as I find the cold a bit tougher to manage. (and let’s not mention the oil bills!)
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The photographs accompanying your poems are stunning visual reminders of winter’s unique beauty. Change in all its forms is often confronting and surrounded by challenge and adaptation. We live with change, but it also possesses a nostaligic quality, so I understand perfectly how you are feeling as the season plays out its time. Your poem captures your strong admiration for the resilience of trees as they face the natural cycle of change. Love your words and the message conveyed here, Molly. Thank you also for hosting.
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Thanks, Alan. I’m not adept at managing change myself, but I sure do appreciate seeing how the trees pull it off!
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I agree, as much as I love the green of summer, I do love the stark skeletons that dot the winter landscape. Thanks for hosting!
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I find myself more and more drawn to the subtleties of winter beauty.
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Molly – not dark at all. Such a beautiful poem and images. I especially liked these lines:
quilting the skies
at dawn and dusk
Perfection! Thanks for the poem and for hosting today.
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Thanks, Sally!
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I don’t think it’s dark, either, Molly, but a paean to finding beauty in nature no matter the time, and also a celebration of trees, “a testament to endurance
and a reassurance”. Thank you for showing the goodness of everything “outside” and for hosting!
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Linda, I enjoyed your trees this week as well!
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There’s definitely some kind of intriguing grandness about trees in winter, perhaps they’re shining from inside. Lovely, contemplative post, poem, and beautiful images, thanks for all and for hosting!
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“shining from inside”–what a lovely thought!
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Your poem and photos remind me how much I loved the winter trees when I lived in Minnesota. “Stalwart and true” “quilting the skies” and “solace and stark beauty” evoke beautiful chilly memories. Now I’m in California, where the trees are blossoming. The photo of the plum tree in my blog post is from a couple weeks ago, when that was just beginning. Thank you for hosting Poetry Friday!
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Our trees seem far from blooming still, but the sap has been running. Spring is not too far away!
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Gorgeous photos and poem, Molly. To me, the best thing about winter trees is they don’t throw as much shade…ba-da-dum. 😉 Thanks for hosting!
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Did you hear me groan? lol
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I find your poem and reflection and photo hauntingly beautiful and hopeful. Without the emptiness, we cannot know fullness. I long for such a tree atop my grave too now. Thank you so much. xo
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Thanks so much, Amy.
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I love everything about this post about “Undiluted dendritic elegance.” Your word choice throughout is gorgeous. All the lovely incidental alliteration. Trees teach us so much about spare beauty. I love winter trees, too.
Thanks for hosting.
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I’m a devout fan of “spare beauty.” I’m glad (though not surprised) to know that you also love winter trees.
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Gosh! There’s so much to love here. I was blown over by the line “Undiluted dendritic elegance” but also by your poem’s line “quilting the skies
at dawn and dusk”. Thank you for sharing these words. I’m not a fan of winter, but you really made me see the beauty in winter trees.
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I appreciate all the beauty you highlight in your haikus, Marcie!
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Molly, your poem is beautiful and such a tribute to trees. I lingered over so many lines – stalwart and true, quilting the skies, a testament to endurance and reassurance. Thank you for this lovely reminder of winter’s beauty and for hosting today.
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Thanks, Rose. I’m continually wowed by the beauty of winter.
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I thought the same thing about winter trees yesterday when I was watching/taking photos of the sunrise! The view is entirely different. People so rarely complement winter trees on their stark beauty. Thanks for the poem and for hosting!
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I love that you were thinking the same thing!
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Your poem is beauty, pure and honest. You give honor to the winter trees, their endurance and perseverance. And, as always, your photos are magically poetic as well.
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Thanks, Margaret!
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Molly, thank you for the reminder of how beautiful stark, quiet can be. Lovely! xo
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It can be a subtle beauty, but once recognized it’s so powerful.
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I also love the winter trees with the branches across sky and land (not much snow here). Your poem and photos are beautiful.
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Snow isn’t required, but it does add another lovely element. 🙂
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Molly, not too dark at all. Beautiful, as the trees are in their starkness. The photos you’ve captured are gorgeous. I love the image of the trees “quilting the skies” and the limbs “a testament to endurance” Lovely images.
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Thanks, Denise! It’s so nice to “see” you again!
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Molly, I find your poem to be settling with its beautifully descriptive thoughts. (in rubied exuberance). Winter is entrenched in your poem and the trees bow in acceptance of winter in Maine. Thanks for the gorgeous photos and hosting today’s PF.
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Thanks, Carol! I deeply appreciate all of Winter’s gifts.
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Molly, Thanks for hosting! I love trees as well – you probably know that from some of my prior posts this winter. I especially like the silhouette of the Bur Oak, as it is common in the midwest and very stately when it is seen against the winter skies. I love your phrase: “Undiluted dendritic elegance.” It says so much in a few words! Thanks, again! Stay well!
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I really want to travel out west and admire some of those tree silhouettes!
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Thank you! I hope you get to go out West too. It is rugged and lovely at the same time! Very different from the East and Midwest – both of the areas of the country in which I’ve lived.
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The poems and photos compliment one another. I so love trees in winter. They are the stars of the season.
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“The stars of the season” –yes!
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Thanks for hosting, Molly. I’m always sad for a day or two when the trees first look naked, but soon I see they are there teaching us structure and aspiration and balance. Your poem is gorgeous:
“Not one to bloom
in rubied exuberance”–the music!
And I’ll say it again: it is allowed for a poem to be dark, should it need to be. 🌞
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Thanks, Heidi, and I’ll take that reminder as often as you offer it! 😉
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Molly, everything about this post is stunning. Your photos are gorgeous and your poem conveys your deep and heartfelt appreciation for that “undiluted dendritic beauty.” (What phrase!) As much as I end up longing for winter to end, I too am often stopped in my tracks by the gorgeous scenes nature creates in winter. Thanks for the reminder to appreciate the moment I’m in.
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The more time I can spend outside, the more I discover about nature’s winter wonders. Dazzling!
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Molly, winter trees are indeed touchstones! “something within me cleaves to the clarity of winter tree lines. Their shapes and shadows collaborate with sky and water and snow-covered land.” Yes. I didn’t appreciate bare trees until I was an adult, and even then, not until we moved to Minnesota. Bare trees and brown everywhere is too sad. But bare trees, snow, sunsets, sky…those clean lines, as you said. Thank you for this loveliness!
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It’s so lovely to know that so many others enjoy the sight of winter trees as much as I do. Ours should soon be draped with a new coating of snow–yay!
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I have already returned over and over to your beautiful tree tribute. Your love for winter trees is palpable…I love the longing in “cleaves to the clarity of winter tree lines”. I, too, am mesmerized by a snow-encrusted limb, a branch encased in ice, and wonder about the warmth that churns within that forms the spring bud. Thank you for this, and for hosting!
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Yes! That internal churning within!!! The tension between that outer stark skeleton and the impending spring transformation is awesome!
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[…] Poetry Friday. Enjoy many more Friday poems, by visiting this week’s Poetry Friday Roundup at Molly Hogan’s Nix the Comfort Zone. Molly is in Maine, where the trees are in a different stage from our plum here in California. Her […]
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