ABOUT TREES

I have two friends in my front yard.

To guess their names will not be hard;

Friend number one keeps me cool

While I wait for the bus to take me to school.

Friend number two lets me go up high

To feel the wind up in the sky.

And in the Fall their colors so bright

Make all the days seem just right.

My friends grow slower than I do,

And every Spring they look brand new.

My friends will live for many years;

If they should break, I would shed tears.

The first friend's name is Mr. Oak,

I promise you that that's no joke.

The other friend is Mrs. Maple,

You would believe that, if you're able!

by Anna Jenkins, in the 4th Grade

(This poem won first place for Anna in the Arbor Day celebration where the school children planted a tree at Johnson Park in about 1993. She asked that it be included in my book, since I helped her write the poem.)