Thursday, February 23, 2012

right-height trees

Though not a Romney fan, my father enjoyed his quote about trees being the right height. He likes the idea - says it's a kind of found poetry. But it's a bit short for poetry, even for haiku, so I looked up the quote and found more, out of which came this found poem.

Michigan

I come back to Michigan.
I like seeing the lakes. Something special,
the Great Lakes, but also all the little inland lakes
that dot the parts of Michigan.
I come back to Michigan: the trees
are the right height.
I love the lakes. Brownish-green,
the grass is the right color.
I love being in Michigan.
Everything seems right.

Politicians seem to be masters of the deeply inane. Who knows what the right height is for trees? Romney, the sage, accidental poet, does. On the way home from work I sized up the trees. Some of them seemed insecure about their height. Others were too loose, too tight, or too symmetrical. Some had a freakish branch jutting out at an uncomfortable angle without a proper counterweight.

7 comments:

ron hardy said...

Of the three versions you wrote I like this one the best, especially your description of the trees you saw on the way home from work. I will try your suggestion about writing a found poem taken from
the Mitt's words.

SarahJane said...

I couldn't format the damn thing, so I had to type it all in again, resulting in a much shorter post! Dunno, sometimes less is more, also in the case of blogger, which now allows me to "compose" and to set the "html." I don't want to deal with any but the most rudimentary html, but it seems one must keep getting smarter and learning more. dang

toniclark said...

Thoroughly enjoyed and sent it to Greta (gretasue) who's from Michigan.

ron hardy said...

What's that line? Something like the longer I live the less I know...

Kathleen said...

What fun!

kenc said...

Regarding the right height for a man, Abraham Lincoln it should be "tall enough for his feet to reach the ground."

Same thing for a tree, I reckon, only tall enough for its roots to reach the ground.

Romney or Santorum, doesn't matter. Barring any surprises (read: Iran and fall out), either will lose BIG in November...

Andrew Shields said...

I spun off of one of his statements, too:

http://andrewjshields.blogspot.com/2012/01/quiet-rooms.html

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