"Trees" and my Grandpa Joe

We named our son after my Grandpa Joe.  Unfortunately, Grandpa's real name was "Joyce".  Fortunately I didn't have to name my son "Joyce" to get the effect of naming him after Grandpa.  And fortunately, there is a good reason that Grandpa was named Joyce: my Great-Grandmother liked a poem, which I also happen to like, about trees, and also fortunately, there is a national forest with some really big trees* named in honor of the poet: Joyce Kilmer. And, also additionally fortunately, he wasn't just any old sissy poet, but rather, he was  Sgt. Joyce Kilmer, a member of the Fighting 69th Infantry Regiment, who died in the battle of the Marne, 1918.


"Trees"

"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"

Citation:
Kilmer, Joyce. "Trees". from One Hundred and One Famous Poems. Chicago, Illinois: Contemporary Books, 1958.  pg. 39


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