Trees and men
Were twinned from birth
In a Garden made by G-d
When Beginning began
At the trunk of time
Nature first stretched her limbs
Mankind his branches
Both were born
From mother Earth
And both still strive
Ever upwards
Towards their Father in Heaven
Who blessed them both
In infancy
To be productive
--For what is man
But a frame
Of living wood
With a bark of flesh
Whose spent years
Are carefully recorded
In the rings of his soul
To be counted and measured
When his tree is felled--?
That first couple
Were created developed
Planted fully grown
The man of knowledge
The mother of all life
They rested beneath
The protective shade
Of their older twin
Born as towering
Mighty men of the field
The sun of G-dliness
Shone with clarity
And gladdened all
With truth --
It was summer
The Supreme Gardener
Cautioned man
And his partner
To be faithful
Not to intrude
On the other couple
In that summer garden
The Tree of Knowledge
And that of Life --
Their twin
Yet ignoring the warmth
In the face of the sun
They gave of their fruit
They ate from their twin --
And summer ended
Spiritual illumination
Sadly set
And the garden lay
In bewildering exile
The longest winter
Of spiritual confusion
Darkness of the soul
Perversion of knowledge
Death of life
Many trees
Became barren of fruit
Unproductive in life
Felled for the use
Of their frozen frames
And many traits
Barren of G-d
Unproductive to life
Destructive to all
Born in man's soul
Its full potential
In hibernation
For the winter
For all from the earth
That reach for the sky
During winter
Seemingly die
Loose their leaves
And return their soul
To their soil
Life redefined
As gain through pain
Knowledge obtained
With tragedy and trial
Whilst man with toil
Tills his soil
And every birth
A storm of ache
In disgrace
The trees gave
Their leaves to man
To cover his shame
--For like man
A tree attempts
To cover with colored
Leaves that impress
And hide its essence
Yet should a wind
Of truth blow hard
The bright façade
Will give away
The bare branches
Of self beneath --
The Garden of G-d
Was not destined
To winter forever
But where can be found
The seeds of summer
Warmth of knowledge
The sun of G-d
The spring of life?
On a barren mountain
Blooming with plants
A desert sky
Dense with clouds
Sandy wasteland
Crowded with people
A silent wilderness
Shaking with thunder
G-d returned
To visit His garden
To sow the sparks
Of summer's return
He gave His Torah
The garden's manual
A tree of knowledge
And life combined
These trees though
Are not of the garden
These are fruits
Of G-d's own trees
No longer
Will man bask
In the garden of G-d
Surrounded with trees
Not born of his efforts
Fruits of life
On branches of shame
He must toil
Planting charity
Bulbs of divinity
In winter's furrows
In valleys of tears --
A tree sends
Its roots to breach
The stiffened earth
To extract waters
Of life beneath
To draw them into
The highest branches
Whose spread leaves
Absorb the sun
And thus the tree
Traps and merges
Heaven and earth
And stores them in fruit
The soul of man
Likewise strives
To penetrate
Its body of clay
The harsh world
To extract drops
Of knowledge and life
To blend with energy
Of faith and light
It absorbs from Above
And then his fruits
Are sweet with truth
And with summer's
Imminent return
The desert of our history
The plantings of our misery
Watered with our tears
Nourished with our joys
Rooted in our trust
Will suddenly flourish
As towering trees
Of knowledge and life
Wholly productive
Potentials unlocked
Every branch
Will carry its fruits
Every soul
Will express summer
All lost knowledge
Will make itself known
Every lost life
Will return to the garden
All of Creation
A garden filled
With trees grown
And nurtured by G-d --
And Man
