08/25/2026
We are lucky in Worcester County to have a published poet living among us.
Debra Wood has often delighted us by reading some of her poems at our monthly meetings.
Today Debra read a poem that speaks to the strength of tall trees.
It served as a great preamble read ahead of our speaker Monica Brooks who spoke of her activism with the NAACP and her work to safeguard our vote.
In her own way Monica is a tall tree and a witness for us.
Debra’s poem was also particularly timely because this week is National Park Week with attention and events across our country focused on the beauty of our national parks.
Here is Debra’s poem.
A lovely ode to trees but so much more.
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The Tallest Witness
That tree that stood on your grandfather’s land was built with clay dirt and a little sand. It has weathered many storms and stood the test of time; with a trunk that’s a mountain for a child to climb.
Its roots are the anchors that the surface can't see, binding the earth to the ghost of the tree.
The bark is a map of the years that have flown, of the heat of the drought and the seeds that were sown.
It watched as the seasons turned copper and gray, and felt the soft weight of the snow on the spray. It stood through the thunder, the wind, and the rain, absorbing the joy and the shadow of pain.
Its roots are a library buried in deep, guarding the secrets the clay likes to keep. While high in the air, the branches start thin, like fingers of scribes where the stories begin.
They write on the clouds what the ancestors knew: That the strength of the old is the life of the new. Now the branches reach out like a grandfather's arms, protecting the soil from the world and its harms.
Though the sand may have shifted and the clay may have dried, the life of the spirit is pulsing inside. It’s a witness to all that was spoken and done, basking at last in the light of the sun.
© 2025 Debra Linette Wood
