The Greenman
The Greenman
For Billy Scudder
​
I awoke on a warm, Spring night.
The moon shone full – no cloud in sight.
The trees all whispered in the air.
I got up and downed the stair.
Into the yard I felt my feet
On new grass tread in the shadows deep
And all the bats to me did fly
And whisper "This Way" "Come, let's fly"
Into the air they ‘round me swirled
As mists of light flew close and curled.
Up from the grass I felt me lift
As o'er the lawn we flew so swift
“Look - oh look! What do I see?”
“Below me there in that old oak tree?”
The Green man crouching - watching - waiting
Looks up and laughs - no hesitating
Then up into the night leaps he!
And pulls me down beside his tree
He stares at me - his eyes so green
With visions none of us have seen
He came to me in my sweet youth
And showed me ways to see the truth.
Chased shadows from my lonely rooms
Found fairies flying in mustard blooms
“What ho?” says I. “What do you seek,”
“To call me from my sleep so deep?”
“What news? Which way? What do you know?”
These words and many others flow.
He looks right through me. Sees my soul.
The waves of change around me roll.
He smiles and winks and chirps to me
And motions, "Follow - Here ... THIS tree.”
A single touch from his age-old staff
A quickening in the air – I laugh
Before me from the living tree
A doorway forms for me to see
The door swings wide within the bark.
Inside it seems so very dark
But glowworms light to show the way
I know that I will want to stay.
A staircase down then greets my eyes
"This way!” says he, “Here’s the surprise!”
My fears dissolve - my worry withers
As into the tree then step I thither
And down go I into the ground
Here things do make a different sound
The scent of growth - the door of life
“Believe!” says he “and end your strife.”
What’s this I see here before me,
Hidden within this hallowed tree?
A place of wonder and creation
The Greenman's realm - his Imagine Nation
The green man shows me acres and ages
Hidden within the roots of sages
He knows the way he sings the song
He whispers secrets hidden long.
Then all the fairies round him troupe
And goblins laugh from fungus stoops
Titania and her Oberon
Smile down at us from far beyond.
I feel his peaceful hand in mine
To ever after morning shine
His ageless newness always shows
And within his secret glows
He lives and breathes the scent of life
Without the stitchings of mortal strife
I’ll sing his praise till end of days
My friend, The Greenman, knows the ways!