Wood Glorious Wood! Poem by John Knight

This poem is dedicated to all those who are old enough to remember when wood was as important to us as air and water. It is also dedicated to those who live in situations where it still is!

Throw another log on the fire - Mother,
Father go and chop another tree,
Stack the winter log pile higher - Brother,
When winter comes there's fuel for you and me!

Sharpen up that pile of stakes - Sister,
And plant them all around the cattle pen,
Just ignore the splinters and the blisters,
You're young so all the skin grows back again!

Plane up the seasoned planks to make a table,
And turn those logs to make some fancy legs,
Tongue and groove the planks if you are able,
And then support the legs with wooden pegs!

Every type of wood is so essential
When you have no stone or brick or clay,
We've wooden plates and all kitchen utensils
Our houses are all wood in White Horse Bay.

Oak and Ash and Elm all have their uses
And pine and birch can make a fine canoe,
With wood - like everything - there are abuses
And there are things a woodman should not do!

For fire or fence please - never kill a sappling,
And feed and prune your trees to make them grow,
Remove the weeds and briar - and toss them on your fire
And mark your trees so other men will know!

And please respect the trees and other flora,
The're not as green as they might look you know,
Some live for years and others live much shorter
Some grow so quick and others very slow!

Have you ever pondered how a tree grows,
Which is tomorrow in the oven thrown
And have you ever pondered how a tree knows,
The point at which it's reckoned fully grown!

A tree is fixed by roots in its position,
It cannot hunt for food or gather snow
It needs CO2 and water for nutrition,
As day-by-day its trunk and branches grow.

The structure of its leaves is the proscriber
For it to photosynthesise its food,
To make cellulose and lignin - special fibre
To make it strong and turn it into wood.

Never ever take a tree for granted,
Never break a branch or ever scar its trunk,
And don't disturb the roots when its been planted
AND NEVER TREAT A PIECE OF WOOD AS JUNK!