Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Cedar Rose


Nimble fingers, 
focused eyes,
she fashions cedar
into the shape
of a beautiful
bloom.

Her grandmother looks on
with kind, smiling eyes,
as she learns the art
of her ancestry,
carefully weaving
strands of bark
gathered prayerfully
from Grandfather Cedar.

She, herself,
child of dreams,
is a beautiful
cedar rose.



for Sumana's Midweek Motif at Poets United : Flower - Rose. Here on the West Coast, the Nuu chah nulth people remove a patch of bark and some of the living tissue underneath from the huge cedar trees. They weave the strands into cedar roses, as shown. This does not harm the tree. Trees with such evidence of bark removed are termed culturally modified trees, and may not be "harvested."


15 comments:

  1. Aww, this is an awesome write. Happy Wednesday Sherry

    Much💖love

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  2. And she is a beauty indeed. Good day to you Sherry!

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  3. Wow Sherry, how symbolic is your poem. Love it!

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  4. How wonderful to pen an ode to the child, the art, the sweet learning relationship and the rose!

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  5. Sherry,

    Such a beautiful poem and subject too..your poem telling the history of the cedar rose is so interesting . The respect shown for all things of nature by the First Nation People, is a trait the rest of the world could follow.
    Beautiful accompanying image:)

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  6. That is beautifully crafted.. and am so glad those trees are protected!

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  7. Over the summer,I found a woman selling small cedar roses. I had forgotten I had them until I read your poem.

    A beautiful poem to read this evening, my friend.

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  8. This is beautiful on so many levels. Not just the art. But the passing along of the art from generation to generation. Tradition is so huge. And to think that she will carry that on forward to her own one day. Lovely.

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  9. Beautiful poem and the tradition.. Fabulous way to protect the trees. I was not aware of this tradition... lovely poem, Sherry!

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  10. Cedar Rose! Wow! So lovely to learn something new from you, Sherry. May all survive and beautify this planet of ours eternally.

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  11. This made me smile, Sherry. Really beautiful.

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  12. Lets us hope that she and her children's children can be doing that in years to come. Sadly greenbacks and trash are the leaders these days.

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