JUST AS A MAGNILOQUENT TREE (A POEM)

Just as a magniloquent tree

Sheds its grand magnificence

To become a memory of itself

And a sorry skeleton in winter,

Men past their supreme prime

Shed their leaves and flowers

As they age along life’s passage

Looking like Halloween creatures

In a child’s collection of tidbits

To put the frightful devil to flight!

The soporific tree regains splendor

In the Spring, drawing anew admirers

Who cruelly deserted it in thousands

While the bitter cold froze its limbs.

The tree knows that its annual renewal

Will delight centuries of onlookers

Who turn poets, painters and singers

Inspired by its matchless spectacle,

While,alas, man content with past glories

Prepares to sing his swansong none hears!