Spirit of the Tree

Spirit of the Tree
Dr Abe V Rotor

  

                                    Life and death of a tree on Mt Makiling, Laguna.

Call the kapre, dwende, tikbalang

to scare or for fun;

the goddess Maria Makiling,

and Helios, the sun.

I imagine the world without them -

without them around:

     Children wouldn't be home before dark;

     and dogs at night wouldn't bark?

     Why sunflowers always face the sun,

     and go to sleep when gone;

     trespassers, beware, take the road instead,

     else on some spirit you might tread;

     over the hills and valleys thunder rolls

     when angry Thor growls,

     and mushrooms spontaneously appear

     breaking the ground like spear;

     phosphorescence fascinates us,

     after the fire has gone into ash;

     look up they’re but one - fireflies and stars,

     fireflies are the missing stars.

     holiest the altar of nature unspoiled,

     where logging was foiled,

     where the kapre lives in big trees,

     and scares with a sudden breeze;

     paddies sigh, bamboos creak and whisper,

     unseen - creatures or not – slither.

The world is alive with tales and legends;

untrue yet true, for they are a twin;

and if you pass by a tree, stop and listen

to the spirit that throbs within.~