Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Memorial to an Electrified Oak Tree
By Don Iannone

Struck down
mid-life
while standing tall
in the woodlands forest.
One horrifying jagged
electrifying thunderbolt
claimed him in seconds.
Stripped naked--
his bark strewn
and hanging loose
like a skinned alligator.
We didn't know
till morning
he was fried
to a blackened crisp
like the worst of toast
you can imagine.

We didn't hear his cry.

I'm sorry.
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15 comments:

Bob said...

How powerful nature is! From time to time it reminds us that we humans are not in control of it at all.
I knew someone whose father was killed by lightning.
The poem gets to the point very well.

6:17 AM
Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Thanks Rob. She IS very powerful. We must respect her.

7:46 AM
Jim said...

Oh Jim, like a bird, out on limbs all the time, but I have to remark on this tree.

In the fall, as the leaves 'die', the life that was in them, returns within to the branches and trunk, it does not die, neither the leaf itself, each 'form' of life returns to its' place of origin, healthy and whole again.

So too, before the lightning struck the tree, the tree knew, the resident life form retreated into the root system and ground, the burned 'life form' was transfigured into the upper worlds, mission accomplished. The lightning does not act separate from the life, but in conjunction and alliance with life.

So out on the limb, about to fly, that is my opinion of that very touching poem regarding the power of Life itself.

Thanks Don, very striking pieces.

11:21 AM
Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Jim,

Wonderful observations and insights. All I can say is "Wow!"

I like your concept of the resident life form. Boy, I really will enjoy the Kabbalah course.

Thanks.

11:27 AM
Mike said...

Don: Very nice tribute to the tree. I don't necessarily agree with Jim re: the life force of the tree receding. But I think he's right on the mark that the lightning does not act separate from life. Nature is indifferent. This world, just as it is with all its horror, all its darkness, all its brutality, is the golden lotus world of perfection.

I bow to the blessings brought to the world by this tree.

12:55 PM
Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Mike,

Thanks.

Lots of different views on these issues, as you know. I agree Nature is indifferent, which is Her beauty. (Sorry for the personification.)

According to the panpsychists, consciousness goes all the way down into both mind and matter. That is where I connect with Jim's idea.

As you know, poetry let's us get away with things that philosophy and science would never...

1:13 PM
CE said...

Well, I'm still alive after all these years. I guess God wanted me to stay longer.

1:34 PM
Mike said...

Hi Don - Yep, that's the beauty of poetry! You have a story you're trying to tell, but, as is being discussed over on Travis' blog, poetry leaves much for the reader to interpret, to apply his/her knowledge and experience to. As opposed to prose, where you can specify everything you wish, leaving little to the reader if you so choose.

BTW, I have no problem whatsover with your personification of Nature, nor with panpsychism (as my blog entry here talks about). If the model works, use it. :)

2:02 PM
Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Hi Mike,

I hear you. The beauty of life in all ways is that it is up to each of us to figure it out in a personally meaningful way. That is the beauty of poetry as well.

Fellow panpsychists, eh?

I just finished a course on alternative philosophical worldviews. Whitehead was an interesting panpsychist. Of course, a process philosopher as well.

3:16 PM
Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Thanks Imemine. I guess you're right. All these years? How old are you? LOL.

3:17 PM
Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Thanks Imemine. I guess you're right. All these years? How old are you? LOL.

3:18 PM
CE said...

Don,
That was an exaggeration. I'm not that old yet. In fact I feel very young. It takes quite a number of years before I retire. LOL.
I mean I didn't expect to be so lucky.

3:49 PM
Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Imemine...Good, good, good. The rumor about the Web is that you are only 23 years old.

4:08 PM
CE said...

That shows that I am intellectually retarded. Indeed, I am. I know nothing about politics. And I am much older. I leave people guessing.
By the way, what rumor or rumors are circulating about me in the Web? Just intrigued. I hope it is not serious.

2:14 PM
CE said...

And yes, most people who see me think I am younger than thirty.

2:15 PM

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