"I THINK THAT I SHALL NEVER SEE ... A POEM AS LOVELY AS A TREE"

TREES

~ Sergeant Joyce Kilmer

165th Infantry (69th New York), A.E.F.

(Born December 6, 1886; killed in action near Ourcy, July 30, 1918)

_____

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A Tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

~ Autumn joy