I lost an Ash tree
That had been part of my yard
It was there before me
And I had watched it grow large.

I had climbed it and cursed it,
Made it part of a wall.
I watered and trimmed it,
And raked its’ leaves last Fall.

It served up a shadow,
Cool respite from the sun.
It shielded my garden,
From harsh winds from the West

I noticed lost branches,
At first just a few.
They broke off in windstorms
And littered the yard.

Last summer I witnessed
The shade had grown smaller.
Large limbs had grown brittle,
So many were gone.

The trunk had grown hollow
Now it was home for the ants.
The blackbirds still chattered
But the red robins had moved on.

I spoke with a neighbor,
I was concerned for a barn.
If the tree were to fall over,
It might cause great harm.

We brought out our axes
And went on with the task.
We took down the Ash tree,
Now just a memory of the past.

-cj holm