SHADE TREE MUSINGS

I'm sitting underneath a tree
  that must be thrice as old as me
  and as I sit I think about
  how this huge tree was once a sprout

Through all the years that it has grown
  how many fields have farmers sown ?
  and since it was a small acorn
  how many generations born ?

Beneath its spreading summer shade
  what lovers' promises were made
  while out upon an evening's lark
  and carving names in smooth beech bark

So many times this monarch's shed
  it's autumn coat of gold and red
  to spend the winter cold and chill
  while standing on this wooded hill

And long ago on a still day
  did grey clad soldiers come this way
  and camp beside it on this hill
  perhaps their ghosts remain here still

It's seen us go from carts to cars
  from telegraph to hearing stars
  observed yon valley raped and raw
  by the skidders and chainsaw

I wonder at this tree's long life
  the peace it's lived through, and the strife
  how oft' it has seen setting sun
  'Twill still be here when I am done