By Francis Quamina Farrier  

IN this August feature article, I invite you to join me and take a closer look at trees; not necessarily trees in Guyana’s vast forests, but trees closer to our daily activities. Secondly, I have to commence this feature article with a disclaimer; I am not the author of that beautiful poem which was put to music, and which has some of the words which constitute the headline of this article. Two lines from that poem are;
“I know that I would never see, a poem lovely as a tree.

Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree”

It is also necessary for me to state emphatically that it is my prerogative as to what activity I choose as a hobby; one which I enjoy immensely is doing FREE Poetry and Storytelling sessions at schools around Guyana. I even did two such sessions while in Ghana last year during September and October. So instead of spending my remaining years on this planet bothering with every problem around the world, I much prefer to extract a few things which I could work on improving if I can. An interest in the well-being of trees is one of them. As such, I post a tree or trees on my Facebook page every week, which I call, “Thursday Tree”. Many positive responses are being received from near and far.

It is well established, that I love reading and performing poems to audiences; especially children. It is a hobby of mine which brings me much pleasure – as well as to my student and adult audiences. Poems are carefully chosen in terms of their themes and messages depending on the audiences when I select a school or other venue. One of my policies is to have at least one poem which was written by a poet from the town or village. At present, I am moving towards doing more poems about trees. However, “I know that I would never see, a poem lovely as a tree”.

During the past year, I have been posting trees on my Facebook Page which I have entitled “Thursday Tree”, and have been receiving interesting and encouraging comments. I love poetry quite a lot. I also love trees, whether in the forest, in a park, or lining a roadway. As such, I have decided to throw the spotlight on some of my Thursday Trees in this feature article. There are many Golden Agers who can point to a tree and tell you that it was full-grown since they were children. They sometimes speak as though that tree is an elder of theirs. A fine example is “The Big Tree” at Mocha on the East Bank Demerara. That Big Tree is revered by the residents of Mocha. I once did a Poetry and Storytelling Session under that tree; even using the tree as a character in one of my stories. It was such fun. There is, of course, Half Way Tree which is located on the East Coast Public Road half-way between Georgetown and Rosignol. More recently that tree was a central character in a novel by Guyanese Folklorist, Roy Brummell.

There are two very interesting trees in Georgetown which have a fundamental lesson for us. They span the eastern end of the canal which is sandwiched by South Road and Croal Street just south of the Office of the President. Both of those trees are at the edge of the canal – one at the northern side, the other at the southern side. They are exactly opposite each other and so when they began to fall, they actually fell on each other forming a sort of arch and after over five years, they have not ended up in the canal. They are the epitome of that beautiful song, “Lean on Me”.
The soil of Georgetown is different from the soil of the Pomeroon River banks. But I do not see trees on the Pomeroon River banks tumbling down all over the place as I see in the city of Georgetown. Washington DC-based businesswoman, Zena Stoll, who grew up on the Lower Pomeroon where she runs the Adel’s Tourist Resort, says, “We took care of the trees. They held the soil together, especially the Cruder trees.” It was a Pomeroon river culture. “Almost every landing had Cruder trees planted, and it is indeed very necessary to protect our river dams or embankments,” Zena Stoll concluded.

St. Lucia-based Sports Advisor to the Eastern Caribbean States, Joseph “Reds” Perreira, also grew up on the Pomeroon River. “We planted Cruder and Coconut trees on the banks of the Pomeroon to hold the soil,” he said, pointing out that the roots of those trees hold the soil together and prevent river dams breaking away resulting in flooding.
So one has to conclude that trees flourish when they are growing in the most favourable soil for them and they are properly cared for, wherever that is necessary.

In more recent times, trees in Georgetown have collapsed on Carmichael Street, on Croal Street outside the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, within the compound of the St. Andrew’s Kirk, at the perimeter of Castellani House opposite the Ministry of the Presidency, as well as on Main Street, and other locations in the city. What I find amazing and also inspirational about the many trees on the banks of the Pomeroon River, is that although they are in soft soil, they are not tumbling down and collapsing on a regular basis like so many trees in the city.

Obviously, they are the right trees planted in the right soil. I like looking at trees and try to analyse them and whether they have any lessons for us. Kudos must be given to those wonderful folks who ensure that our Mangrove trees are protected since they protect us from floods caused by the collapse of river dams.

On my very first visit to New York City in 1969, I was the guest of a relative who lived on a street which I described as “Asphalt, Concrete and Bricks”; meaning the street of asphalt, the pavement of concrete and the buildings of bricks. There was absolutely no grass or trees; nothing green on that street. As a Guyanese country boy, that totally turned me off.

However, in more recent years, that street and many others in New York City which were similar, have all gone green with rows and rows of beautiful trees planted in them. There are now massive tree-planting projects ongoing in many cities in the USA. It was just announced (August 2019) that 250 more trees will be planted on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The ongoing construction of the President Dwight Eisenhower Memorial in the USA Capital will include 130 trees. There are 21,000 trees in the capital city of the USA. A green revolution is now in progress not only in the USA but in many other developed countries which had previously decimated many of their forests. Sadly, at this time, there are about 73,000 fires now burning in neighbouring Brazil, gobbling up millions of trees in that country’s valuable Rainforest, which is known as the “World’s Lungs”.

Trees are necessary and we can thank them for making our planet more liveable, especially as we encounter the negative effects of Climate Change. Yes, one can talk to trees and thank them for what they do to feed and protect humanity. I now end as the poem/song does; “Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree”.