Stop 9

Open House

by Aileen Fisher

If I were a tree

I'd want to see

a bird with a song

on a branch of me.

I'd want a quick

little squirrel to run

up and down

and around, for fun.

I'd want the cub

of a bear to call,

and a porcupine, big,

and a tree toad, small.

I'd want a katydid

out of sight

on one of my leaves

to sing at night.

And down by my roots

I'd want a mouse

with six little mouselings

in her house.

Oak Tree.

I took an acorn and put it in a pot.
I then covered it with earth, not a lot.
Great pleasure was mine watching it grow.
The first budding green came ever so slow.
I watered my plant twice a week
I knew I would transplant it down by the creek.
One day it will be a giant oak,
To shield me from the sun a sheltering cloak.
It will shelter those caught in a fine summers rain,
Under its leafy bows joy will be again.
Creatures of the wilds will claim it for their own,
Squirrels will reside here in their own home.
Birds will build nests and raise their young,
They will sing melodies a chorus well sung.
Under it’s branches grass will grow,
Here and there a wild flower it’s head will show.
My oak tree for hundreds of years will live.
Perhaps the most important thing I had to give. 

George Bernard Shaw

Isaac, Ashlyn, Emily and Jonah