๐น๐ถHarvesting Song ๐ถ ๐นSeptember fattens on vines. Roses flake from the wall.
The smoke of harmless fires drifts to my eyes.
This is plenty. This is more than enough.
Geoffrey Hill, British Poet (1932-2016) - September Song As August ripened, I spent a day harvesting apples at my folks' place. Their garden is blessed with a beautiful tree which yields an annual bumper crop of cooking apples. It got me thinking about the power of that one tree.
Just one treeconnects a multi-branched ecosystem of insects, birds and people.
Just one tree generates a two-month family task force collecting, sorting, peeling, chopping and stewing fruit at harvest time.
Just one tree delivers branches, bags, buckets and boxes of fruit which when frozen feeds family and friends all year round.
Just one tree feeds the whole garden - bruised, squashed or insect-munched apples are composted with cores and peelings into manure.
Just one tree generates a myriad of interactions - passers-by stop to chat and take apples from the tray at the gate.
Just one tree has been a source of adventure for tree-climbing children
who swing from its branches.
Just one tree has provided shade and beauty for all who've passed through the garden since it first took root, long before my family arrived.
Just one tree.
Just one person during
just one life branches out in infinite directions,
roaming a web of streets, roads, railways, flightpaths, phone and internet.
Just one voice rides out into the world on breath billowed by our bronchial lung trees, sending waves through the world with every word, sound and song.
Just one vocalisation can trigger a cascade of changes
- forging, building and severing connections.
Just one song can enchant a lover or wail the loss of a beloved -
and some beloved songs carry the dreams of millions on their branches.
Just one person with just one life and just one voiceimpacts a potentially vast web of connections.
Just one moment is threaded with the spiralling roots of our DNA, landing us right here, right now in today's harvest as we look towards tomorrow.
The tree of life is a precious mind-boggling miracle and our voices sing in its branches, harvesting creativity and connectivity.