A Celebration of Trees! | Page 12 | Young Writers Project

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[Photo credit: Kevin Huang, Burlington, VT, YWP Photo Archive]

CONTEST! Create an ode to a tree in writing or visual art. Close your eyes and think of a tree. Yes, just one tree. Is it the tree that you planted for your mother’s birthday? Or the one you like to climb? Have you buried secrets among its roots? Or is it a tree that you only notice in the quieter moments, gently waving beyond your bedroom window, whose movements, again and again, have brought your eyes to the sky and your face to the sun...? With the tree as the main character, communicate your personal relationship with it – in poetry, prose, photography, painting, drawing, documentary film, rap, interpretive dance – whatever form inspires you. SEE CONTEST DETAILS HERE.

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Responses to this Challenge

Jan 23

poem 0 comments challenge: A Celebration of Trees!

madeleinec0

Branches of my Youth

My tree is a razor-sharp memory
Sticky pine and strong, safe trunk
Perched on the edge of a forgotten home
Which all my love has sunk

From four years old I gathered round
Lighting up at pinecones found
Drawing breaths of sticky sweet air
Gathering dirt within my hair

At the age of six, I dared to climb
And found my self stuck in record time
Poised with fear, in need of help
Grampa appeared at the sound of my yelp

Ten years old I drifted up high
Pretending as if I was one with the sky
Now Grammy was the one to shout in distress
But the tree twirled me back down to be scolded in success

But at age thirteen, I stayed up there all-day
Tears trickling down in the beauty of May
And no one was there to be bothered with worry
As I spoke up in grief to my loved ones, words blurry

Later that day I bid a final farewell

Posted: 01.23.21

Jan 22

poem 2 comments challenge: A Celebration of Trees!

Treblemaker

Why Does A Willow? Short Story

Why does a willow bend upside down
Its branches floating by the ground
Instead of reaching for the sky?
Who made it droop so low?
Twas I.

It happened rather randomly it’s branches towards the sky
(For if you didn't know this- willows branched once grew high)
Bursting upwards like an oak, as sturdy as a Pine,
And under it, when I was small I'd play their all the time.
This tree and I grew very close, though I too small to climb,
I spent all days and nights by it,
Until, one day, it cried.
It’s sorrow filled the air itself and brought on golden tears
Airy songs like chirping doves did leave me wrought with fear.

I didn't want the tree to cry,
As its tears turned mud from soil.
And so I tried some remedies-
'Twas treated as a royal.
But nothing worked
To no avail whatever could be wrong?
It’s branches, long and straight before now bent with every song.

Posted: 01.22.21

Jan 22

nonfiction, opinion 0 comments challenge: A Celebration of Trees!

mm2005

Grow to be a Tree

I look around, admiring the gorgeous flowers and fresh mulch, if you blink you might miss it; if you’re rushing you might not even notice. It’s an ode to calming down and taking a moment, giving a chance to reflect. What I see is magical, a small sprout barely peeking its head through the mulch. The delicacy and youthfulness makes it a wonder. How can something so small, one may say insignificant, make such an impact? That little sprout of a tree means more to me than the towering tree next to it. The beauty is in its potential, I know that mere green shoot just sprouting its leaves can grow to be gigantic. It will grow from a speck of green to a strong tree commanding attention. The promise of new life makes it all worth it. It strikes the thought if that tiny sprout can grow to make such a difference, so can I. I may not be as small and I may never grow as big, but nevertheless, I will grow. I will grow tall and strong like the tree, we will grow together.

Posted: 01.22.21

Jan 21

poem 0 comments challenge: A Celebration of Trees!

EverlastingWaves

Everyone's & Also Mine

it's everyones and also mine,
chipping bark and a hanging branch
amber leaves that drift to the weeded ground
a forgotten sweatshirt sits at the trunk

limbs tired from climbs
from gloved hands grabbing at the too-weak twigs
from kicking at the trunk
and leaves pulled off by bored fingertips

it's everyones and also mine
because i am not the only one who sat on the larger branches
who flicked off small, tired ants
and picked off the red berries

i wish i could hear its stories
hear it tell stories from the other kids
who call it their own
i could listen for hours

it aged with me
from picking up their older sister
to finally sitting at it's base
while waiting for the car to come

it's everyones an also mine
because everyone called it their own
but it's still special.

Posted: 01.21.21

Jan 20

poem 0 comments challenge: A Celebration of Trees!

flying1122

My tree

My favorite tree has many memories,
right out my window where I go to sleep.
The wind blows leaves and it sounds like the sea.
When a big storm comes
it creaks and creaks.
When I open my eyes
I can't believe
that my tree’s still standing
where it was last week.
My tree, my tree, my favorite maple tree.
I bet you're dreaming, dreaming
about this tree right now as I speak.
Go get one, go get one.
I hope it's free.
It will be your favorite tree
for the rest of your weeks.

Posted: 01.20.21

Jan 20

poem 0 comments challenge: A Celebration of Trees!

Goaliegirl

My Tree

My tree.
You may ask what it could be,
could it be the largest sugar maple you’ve seen,
or one that you’ve climbed in the past.
The second one is my tree,
the large oak tree that my sister and I climb,
the one in the woods by the driveway.
Why may this tree important to me, you may ask.
Well, why should you know?
This is my tree after all, not yours.
But, I guess I can tell a bit more about this tree of mine.

This tree is very hard to see.
Covered in snow,
Dead, but alive.
What is alive in this tree you may ask?
Well it is dead, but it just looks that way to the normal eye.
There. You heard more about my tree, so now you may stop asking.

I see you're still asking about it, well.
I guess that I can tell a bit more about this tree.
Where was the one spot animals burrowed?
Under the tree.
The one place we chose to climb
On that tree's branches.

Posted: 01.20.21

Jan 19

visual/photos/art 0 comments challenge: A Celebration of Trees!

IceGalaxy

color loss

I was fooling aroud with my camera and took this photo. It's a view outside my bedroom window at night, converted to a whiteboard setting and taken behind a mesh screen. i practically have a forest of trees outside my room, though it's hard to tell in this photo. Hope you enjoy :)

Posted: 01.19.21

Jan 19

visual/photos/art 0 comments challenge: A Celebration of Trees!

IceGalaxy

blurred lines

Posted: 01.19.21

Jan 19

visual/photos/art 1 comment challenge: A Celebration of Trees!

Sydney23

Ephemeral

Posted: 01.19.21

Jan 18

nonfiction 2 comments challenge: A Celebration of Trees!

roxyforthewin

My Forever Tree

A dogwood tree grows in my front garden. It is small, somewhat peaked, somewhat scrawny. It's imperfect. That tree has watched me grow up. It watched me grow from when I was nine months old and first moved into that gray house (not the kind of gray that makes you think of dystopian forests of burned out, ash-filled air, but the kind of neutral, welcoming gray on which to paint the artwork of your life). The tree was short and delicate like the body of a baby held in her mother’s arms. It was fragile for a tree, which are usually bastions of strength. This one was small and the New England snow bowed its boughs, yet it kept standing.

Posted: 01.18.21

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