Oh my precious bent tree
Who did that to thee
Thy spirit fills the forest
With direction
And intention.
My house sits here now
While long ago somehow
Ancient warriors
And peoples
Traveled your highway
Through and through.
At night
In the quiet
On my back porch I sit
And feel spirits passing along
Your lonesome trail
Marked
So many, many moons ago
But as sure as once you guided
The way through dense forest
Your very presence connects me to
Those giants in the earth
Now at rest.
Author’s Note: Some folks says bent trees are not trail markers or made by the American Indian. They say they are not old enough to be formed 187 years or more ago. Same people say they are found naturally bent in nature. Couldn’t both be right? I mean I bend twigs to mark my off trails whilst bushwhacking. And I’m not that old! But then I have seen some three hundred year old trees bent like trail markers. I’ve even followed some for a few miles or so up in these Appalachians but somehow got balled up on the on-ramps. Anyways, it seems natural to mark your trail. Otherwise, thru-hikers wouldn’t be through. I definitely do not use Trail Markers to mark my best fishing holes! I like to sit quite in the middle of the the bushwhacked woods and feel the whispers of the spirits of those who have come this way before me. Giants in the earth!
PS: I decided to ask my American Indian friend, Bill Crossing-the-River, if American Indians were involved in trail markers. He replied, “It’s Classified!”
tom tenbrunsel
Poet Laureate of Folklore
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