THE TREE
Poem of our Roots
A twig from an ancient tree
was planted in this valley
ninety-years and a day ago
with grandparents' post-migration arrival
propagated with a labor of love
and dream songs which sprouted
roots rich with indigenous sacred
hope and over decades this twig
branched-out into an ancestral tree lush
with a heritage of scattered leaves
some have prevailed on the railroads
farmfields and overseas warriors in battlefields
some have crooned and swooned on saddles of assimilation
not total though to gain an education
some have hummed commitments to heaven
in humble jubilation some have whistled
weary in whirlwinds on life’s meager means
some have not forsaken chanting enchanted
traditional ancient cosmic
conscious themes and now
in this soul-deadening out of balance
Y2K millennium infancy I reflect
in the autumn years of my being
standing somber in the shade of our tree;
what will become of it and me?
For the tree expands into five generations
perpetuating a pristine perpetual dream
in this valley reality like enormous
hawk wings encapsulating us with
a shade of simplicity celebrated in
a social status of invisibility and I
native son shy of eloquence
irrigate the tree with common words
to nourish-in nutrients of this life force
flowing in crimson canals of flesh
in the fertile soil of San Joaquin
in the plants and critters
in the rivers and pulses of little towns
being shredded for progress and malls
in the decades deciphered from a million
memories fertilized for posterity prestige
and dignity of the tree
and landscape and panorama
of our souls.
--Manny M. Moreno
Note: Anybody who knows Manny Moreno, please send a message that I need to talk to him about his latest book. Thank you...
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