The Upside-down Tree
a thousand-years-old and feeling its age.
Baobab is at the end of its tether;
a thousand-years-old and feeling its age,
exposed to all kinds of weather,
used, abused and taken for granted.
It has kept baboons and warthogs
well fed with its succulent pods
and its hollowed interiors provided homes
to countless reptiles, insects, bats and frogs.
In its huge branches weavers built a nest
and in its cavities barn owls roosted.
It is no wonder that the baobab believed
that, of all trees, it was the best.
Proud to be called “the tree of life”,
it once stood upright and erect,
boasting of its own superiority
and claiming to be uniquely perfect.
The gods soon heard of this insolence
that upset the arboreal community
and decided to punish such arrogance
by uprooting the monkey-bread tree.
Then they replanted it upside down;
a move that the plant didn’t expect.
Now it complains to all and sundry
of vilification and lack of respect.
© Luigi Pagano 2019
© ionicus 2023
Views: 1412
Is this based on lore, Luigi? I really like the descriptive and gothic feel of it. I’d be interested in the inspiration behind it.
love,
jolen
The inspiration sometimes comes from something I hear or from an item of news.
In this particular case it was the latter that set me going, Jolen. I read that a baobab tree had died or was in danger of dying and that it was unusual as they were known to live for thousand of years. While researching relevant facts I came across various legends in relation to why it is called an upside-down tree and used the most popular one.
Love, Luigi x
What I like about reading your poems, dear Luigi, is that they have life in them, a story, an anecdote or a detail which one tends to neglect. This poem narrating the story of Baobab tree (never known or seen one before) is quite an enchanting read. Thank you for sharing along with the pic!
Warm Regards, Gomathi.
What influences poets’ style varies immensely. Some will have gone through a gamut of emotions from broken heart to personal losses and write according to their experiences and feelings. Philip Larkin once said, “Deprivation is for me what daffodils were for Wordsworth.” I try to instil some originality and variety into my writing, Gomathi, to avoid excessive sentimentality but still aiming to be lyrical and poetic, if possible. I write with this in mind and if readers find my poems informative as well so much the better. So pleased that this narrative piece appeals to you. Thanks. Warm regards, Luigi… Read more »