Poem of the Month

Good Timber
Douglas Malloch

The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out on the open plain
And always got it's share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.

The man that never had to toil,
To gian and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share,
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.

Good timber does not grow in ease;
The srtonger the wind, the stronger the trees;
The further the sky, the further the length;
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.

Where thickest lies the forest growth
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
Whos broken branches show their scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
This is the common law of life.

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Okay, so reason number 1 why I love this poem: it's the first poem that I memorized. Around age 11 or 12, I think. Heard it in a Sunday school lesson and fell in love! Reason number 2: It's about trees. Reason number 3: It's inspiring! And reason number 4: It's about trees!! I love the forest--it's the Cherokee blood in me.

I didn't do a poem for the month of April. Sorry y'all. I had moved and all of my poetry books were packed away. (One of my favoirte things to look at in thrift stores are old literature books. I'm starting to get a nice collection.) From now till September I'll be relying on my brain for some poems to share.

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In April Matt and I celebrated our 6th year of marriage. For a while now I've been feeling like we have gone through too much in such a sort amount of time. Iraq deployment, both full time in college, 3 babies, heart surgeries, more college, more military--all of this under the poverty line. I've wondered how we can handle all of it. Not really questioning our relationship, but just wondering how we can make it through each day in one piece.

After a few embarrasing break downs, and lots of prayer, I've come to realize that our life is our life. The past is the past. The future is the future. And most important, the now is the now. What doesn't kill us only makes us stronger. In fact, without these trial we wouldn't be who we are today. Our trials make our lives better--nay, our relationship better. (An "aha" moment, right there.)

Love you, Matt Studly. Can't wait to see what your abs look like at the end of the summer!
And happy 6th anniversary to us, may we have an infinity more!