Just Yonder
 
The tree in the field provided shade
For those that were hot and under it laid
Or stood by their pony to loosen its cinch
In the days before cars on the horses did pinch
 
That tree had been planted as part of a plan
To have wood for a house or hold back the wind
it grew in a cut of land where water could draw
amongst its leaves you could hear the crows caw
 
or see branches in winter etched against sky
and in late summer hear cicadas strange cry
a farming immigrant planted the tree
and it grew in a place where it could be free
 
it never sat close to a building or shed
always "just yonder" for the wayfaring bed
there was something about it friendly and warm
it had never drawn lightning under a storm
 
the land it grew from had changed owners a lot
from roads and highways it escaped being caught
then a guy bought the land and claimed that old tree
an historic relic that his great grandfather did see
 
it had been planted and tended by that man long ago
a person who stood up to the wind as she'd blow
he knew that old tree would stay through the years
and so his great grandson for him shed some tears
©Steve Dirksen