A Sonnet and Two Further Thoughts

Such Digger pines as this which bowls its cones, big, hook-tipped, crooked, down the grass-slick hill I toil up (scrabbling over weeds and stones) have grasped the rock and soil, held fast, held still, for long enough to loft and swell their crowns for centuries on all the upland swales along these western slopes, above the towns and ranches, somehow striding over vales and lowlands intersecting all their range. And I, stopped here to pant and sit, am made to think of them, so scattered, high, as strange, slow, footless hikers. My own efforts fade before the leaps they've taken, hill to hill. I rest a few more minutes, sweating still. But each one holds its place - as I am one. The species only walked - I spoke too soon. Man as a species has flown, swum, and run. Seen that way I have visited the moon.

Yet, given voice, the tree might justly say, ``You came right home. I see no slightest sign it made you better men, and see no way the moon could help me be a better pine.''

You've read 3 of 3 free articles. Subscribe to continue.
QR Code to A Sonnet and Two Further Thoughts
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/1990/1023/upine.html
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe
CSM logo

Why is Christian Science in our name?

Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The Christian Science Church, and we’ve always been transparent about that.

The Church publishes the Monitor because it sees good journalism as vital to progress in the world. Since 1908, we’ve aimed “to injure no man, but to bless all mankind,” as our founder, Mary Baker Eddy, put it.

Here, you’ll find award-winning journalism not driven by commercial influences – a news organization that takes seriously its mission to uplift the world by seeking solutions and finding reasons for credible hope.

Explore values journalism About us