Hail all! For the third Sunday of May, I have another poem for you. It’s about one of my two favorite trees, the eastern American Black Walnut (Juglans nigra). With it, there’s a picture of a local tree at the end, from last summer.

Enjoy!

Black Walnut

A mighty tree, an American treasure,
is Juglans nigra, the Union’s walnut.
Warm, humid air with welcome sunshine
favors its growth in a fine summer.
‘Tis green everywhere: green are the leaves,
green the flowers and green the fruits.
The inside is sealed by a silver-gray bark;
placed underneath, with pungent scent
is a staining substance — a strong essence —
that yellows and browns in the yawning air.
The whitest of woods is the way for its sap,
with a splendid grain, especially nice,
and concealing inside a center of richness,
a heart of darkness, highly valued
for consummate crafts. Coveted also
is its peerless nut, prized for its flavor
far well beyond the walnut varieties
in the world elsewhere. You’ll work for a taste:
intensely hard, it’s tough to crack
— you’ll need a vise, a nutcracker
of the kitchen kind just can’t prevail —
but ambrosia awaits, buried within.
Some would yet scoff, and say it’s a weed,
the way it springs up and waxes with nuts,
an early pioneer in open spaces,
seeking always the sun in full.
If only weeds were all like this!
But what is its essence, its inner nature?
With noble bearing, the Black Walnut,
in heart and nut, is highly Solar:
bright sun outside makes black sun inside
and a rich sweet taste in the regal core
of its modest fruit. With mighty roots
and sturdy hard wood for standing upright,
its elegant limbs aim for the sky
as a true aristocrat among righteous trees.
So ponder this beam, and appreciate better
the sun above through this sun on the ground.

Copyright © 2023 Eirik Westcoat

Hwæt! This poem first appeared on my Patreon in July 2022. If you’d like to see great poems like this one much earlier than the rest of the public—plus lots more exclusive material that will never appear on this blog—just subscribe to my Patreon site.