My Dear Ash
It won’t mean anything, but I will never know your age
until your fall. And then, only by the deepest cut.
Though you still may hold on to it, it’s been taken
from you, nonetheless. Who would think that
such a lovely color could be so deadly? But it is.
Was, for you. That emerald bore right into you,
and you no longer stand resolute, only silent.
This poem is my response to Poetics: Passion Stamped on Lifeless Things,
the prompt from Merril at dVerse ~ Poets Pub,
which is to write about a historical artifact.
I’m sure this tree has a history.
Emerald Ash Borer graphic: washingtonpost.com
Emerald Ash Borer photo: emeraldashborer.info
The ash tree in the photos is in my backyard. (click for larger view in new tab)
rivrvlogr 
Oh, poor tree! It’s so sad when something like that happens. And yes, why are the deadly insects so beautiful?
I’m sure the tree has a history. 😀
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Thank you, Merril. 😀
And thanks for the prompt.
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You’re very welcome, Ken.
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Tiny monsters. Nice write, Ken.
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Relentless little buggers.
Thanks, Ron..
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This is so sad! Such a mighty tree felled by a tiny creature.
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And little that can be done to stop them.
Thank you.
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Your tree’s demise is sad … trees we are near regularly become companions and losing one of those companions triggers genuine grief. Hope you will eventually get to count the rings of your ash and know a bit more of its history prior to your arrival in its space.
Your verse is touching.
Your Emerald Borer images are educational – I’m not familiar with these. Some of the areas we go camping in have ash trees, so I’ll know the nature of any green crawlers: dangerous.
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A neighbor a block away sells firewood, so I gave him a hickory that had fallen next to my house. He said he’d help me take down the ash whenever I want. I’ll keep it awhile as a reminder, since it seems pretty solidly rooted.
This Wiki explains the extent of the little critters.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_ash_borer
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All our ash trees are dying of a new virus. The elms have already gone, the plane trees are going. So sad.
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Bark started falling off our ash within the last six years. The photos show just how dead it is now.
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We get some damage in oak trees from great capricorn beetles but the ash has a sort of die-back like the elms, an imported virus. Globalisation again.
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little more than dust
on our little blue marble
we succumb to dust
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🙂
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I’ve always wished trees could talk. They’d have such marvelous tales to tell, as would your ash, may it rest in peace.
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Thank you, Beverly.
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It’s one species after another. Heartbreaking. (K)
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Creatures of nature transported by man. From bilge water to shipping crates, we bring them over, and they survive.
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Man has many ways to destroy.
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Yes.
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This is amazing the way tree borers can wipe out a whole population of trees. The same thing happened with the chestnut trees of the Blue Ridge of Virginia. A lot of the trees were cut and made into lumber. Wormy Chestnut became very popular at one time.
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Ken, there are few things sadder than watching a tree die, regardless of the pace.
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So true.
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We’ve lost so many trees to the voracious borer and other envasive species. How true, that we never know how old they are until they’re felled. The deepest cut.
Thanks for this.
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And thank you. 🙂
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we don’t ever give species time to adapt. just one wave after another.
and yes, to your haiku. dust to dust ~
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Thank you, Michael.
Our ripple effect is never ending.
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I love this one. Sadly true how we don’t appreciate the life of this tree till we cut it down
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Thank you.
Unfortunately, too many things are appreciated only in hindsight.
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So sad! The mighty brought down by the worthless.
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Sigh
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Well done. An attachment is and attachment, even if it is to a tree. 🙂
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Thank you.
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I wonder how long it will stand after it has died, in some areas of Sweden trees stand longer being dead than being alive growing.
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I thought I was safe with a 60 ft. tall dead hickory that was 30 feet from my house — until it fell at an angle toward my house. Fortunately, it it only clipped the top of my chimney, but it then bounced away from the house to land exactly in the middle of the fork of a redbud tree, splitting the tree down the middle. I cut that trunk off where the split ended, one foot above the ground, and two years later I have two healthy redbud “branches” growing straight up, 15 feet.
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Ken — May the joy of the season fill your heart here at the closing if the year 2021, and may peace abide in 2022. This is a most difficult time for our planet earth, and a time of turmoil for its peoples. May 2022 begin the way back! ✌🏼❤️🌎
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“May 2022 begin the way back!” Yes!!
Thank you, Rob.
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