I want to be the tallest white pine tree!

Just swaying in the sun,

Watching wild animals as they run.

Being the queen of the forest

Karen Wils

And a place for eagles to nest.

Beneath me, lovers laid and children played,

While I provided the cool shade.

Swinging in the summer’s sun

So peaceful and fun.

Or dancing like wildfire when storms come to call.

Faded needles and pinecones fall.

Tall and straight all winter asleep

With ice and snow around me deep.

But again, slowly, gently a ray of sun touches me.

I want to live and live free

I want to be the tallest tree!

April is National Poetry Month. Schools and libraries celebrate with programs and poetry readings. Rhyming words, pretty words and powerful words take center stage.

White pines and words are great things in my world. Every Yooper knows that the white pine tree is poetically beautiful.

The virgin white pine forest of Upper Michigan once built a growing nation. In 1955 it was named our state tree. White pines can grow to be over 100 feet tall. The U.P. is still home to a 155-foot-tall white pine — a state record.

It is a poem all in itself.

Most rough, tough backwoods Yoopers claim that they hate poetry! But it is all around us in our colloquial jargon and ethnic accents. In every song from country to rap, in hymns and prayers, nursery rhymes, diaries and camp journals, poetry bombards us every day.

The U.P. is poetry in action, from the crashing waves on Lake Superior to the polka dots on a fawn’s back.

Words seem to be going by the wayside these days. Basic English skills, grammar and penmanship are not being taught like they were 50 years ago. Smart phones, computers, AI, chat rooms and emojis are replacing creative communication skills.

It was once said that language is the foundation of civilization. And now some folks struggle to talk in full sentences.

Words are powerful things. Sing a song. Say a prayer. Read a book to a child. Write in a journal. Be your own tallest pine tree!