Rivers in the Tree - Song Page
©
from album Out on the Tallgrass Prairie
Branch and root systems are each like rivers flowing within a tree: one flows down from sunshine, the other up from soil.
Click below to LISTEN FOR FREE (to purchase go to STORE)
LYRICS
I watch the winter sunset from the river’s rocky ledge.
Beyond me stands a mighty oak along the meadow edge.
The water flows by slowly; the sun has dropped below.
The branches of the oak tree lace the scarlet glow.
The treetop’s like a river system floating in the sky.
The twigs are tiny tributaries draining from on high.
They flow down to the mother trunk, the delta where it ends:
That brawny wooden anchor no wind or flood could bend.
Then I think and realize: this vision’s really true.
Each tree contains a river where nutrients pass through.
In summer leaves soak up the sun for food to send below.
Every tiny twig and branch joins the river flow.
But deep down in the ground, another river network grows.
Where giant roots beneath the tree reverse the river flow.
They seek the precious water and minerals from below,
Sending them high up above to help the tree to grow.
Two rivers flow within the tree connected as a whole.
One flows down from sunshine, the other up from soil.
The tiny twigs and rootlets that grow at either end
Supply the vital nourishment on which all trees depend.
Then I think and realize a river flows in me.
My heart flows to my hands and feet just like in the tree.
This flow of life within us all are rivers with no end:
All miracles of Nature on which all life depends.