When ash trees wander in thought

A July poem, 2026

 

When ash trees wander in thought

 

The ash trees tell me stories

With a thousand leaves in the wind

Chapters full of branches

sheet by sheet

They vibrate, shimmer, and shine.

To me – the human child –

Sometimes up and down, sometimes yes and no,

back and forth, all in one –

The trees are looking at me:

They are taking notice of me -

On a leaf there, a branch here

They wave and understand me

I am silent and see light.

Breathe in the wind and feel the rushing sound.

Feel: They are here to listen.

And they understand me, they feel my happiness,

They make the birds sing and return a thousand melodies.

 

If they could, they would explore the world.

all the trees that stand around me,

If they could, they would listen to the South Seas.

and would have a thousand penguins in their sight,

If they could, they would leave:

step by step

from one horizon to the other,

and they took other trees with them.

 

If they could, they would wander,

but they only scatter their chaff far and wide,

their seeds, from one to the other

and far in the undergrowth – there they are renewed

 

Because they are family, forevermore,

They continue to grow and they feel it:

They can stand while generations are being created,

They need no feet and no shoes.

They are the true treasure trove of the forest floor

and firmly rooted in growth and standing

Only the wind takes their crown away

while dancing through my thoughts

I see them standing there –

Only the branches are swaying.

I understand and feel them.

Tree by tree

from leaf to leaf

from page to page -

So unmarked, green, and free!

 

So bound a thousandfold to the trunk

So light in the wind they flutter and dance

and take me away in one fell swoop

my thousand-page satchel

a breezy garden-trees day

It begins to plant something within me:

the thought: Letting go

of the human and the ever-grasping,

of wanting to understand and explore-

towards floating and feeling

on interpreting and wanting to know

towards the animals and the eternal:

nature

which is beyond words

who lives with melodies,

which we don't even come close to hearing

that hovers around me,

if they don't bother people,

that is one hundred percent,

which has a thousand answers

In response to a burning question:

What does happiness mean?

 

The dancing ash tree radiates back:

Focus on nature!

Become one with her

And then just wait –

Because then she is inside you.

 

Their leaves fall silent quite abruptly.

The hare, the doe, twitched

She's here, I called her.

Now she starts sitting in front of me.

Nibbles on the stalks and the grass

It's not about possession!

It's not about just anything...

She looks at me, her eyes like planets.

Less than 20 centimeters separate us

It's not about people or money.

But about stars that burn within us

Her four children are jumping through the grass

She's staying with me

Wasn't there something about that?

 

Didn't I just have some heavy thoughts?

Wasn't the world just about to crumble?

 

She nibbles – like a true hare – in all her glory.

She nibbles and teaches me – very gently:

Life is about enjoyment – LIFE is the answer

So, why do you keep asking yourself?

Be here, in your field, be here and enjoy!

Let it flow, grow and flourish!

 

What does an ash tree or a hare care?

What's the world up to?

What does it matter to an oak tree or the lawn?

What happens when a person laughs loudly?

What does this garden care?

If you trim it?

Doesn't he have prior rights?

than the ones you are currently using?

 

Today I sat in the garden for hours.

In July, in the middle of the forest

Ash trees and hares told me:

I am alive and I am growing old,

but young from an ash tree's point of view

and speak to the rabbit's face

I listen to them and write this poem.

 

Dear Nature, I marvel and I understand,

Dear ash trees, dear hare, I listen and I am,

I sit here and stop brooding, because I see

what a small part I am of you.

 

July 17, 2026

Telse Gunhild Weinreich