TRISTANIA LAURINA

Tristania Laurina
Your very name's a song
We celebrate your coming
Live happily and long

You joined Portola's neighborhood in April of the year
A chorus of house sparrows swooped a welcome for you here
Friends-of-the-Urban-Forest set you in the ground with care
In a sidewalk square of ready earth that long had lain bare

Sun will send you energy, strength to make you grow
Rain from clouds will water you and fog's persistent flow
You'll rise and fall each day and night with wind's embracing swell
And butterflies will flutter through and flies and bees as well

You have sturdy sister-brother trees that grow on Holyoke Street
Who'll wave their branches with you as your height goes up in feet
Palega Center palm trees will bend and shake their fronds
Saluting you, affirming your arboreal bonds

Nearby, lolling in his house, a sleepy mutt will watch
As slowly and abundantly you green your urban patch
And, if you're lucky, poppies in their native wander-y way
May yellow-orange circle you some day in early May

Neighbors know that naturally you'll help to clean the air
And, visitors will comment on your sprightly shape and stare
Children bouncing basketballs will touch you passing by
When babies feel your presence they may even cease to cry

Don't be surprised if one day you acquire a shopping cart
Just know that quickly as it came just so it will depart
And, sometime from a stranger's hand in place afar you might
Receive within your twigs and branch a bright and sparkly kite

May frequent whims of city living touch you lightly, tree
May seasons share the wonder of their wild fertility
From ocean, bay and mountaintop our voices sing your praise
For you and what you offer us dear tree for all our days

Tristania Laurina
Your very name's a song
We celebrate your coming
Live happily and long

Ellen Frank, San Francisco, 2007