Although your name brings
Images of Llasa Apsos
Lifting legs
It stems instead
From ancient roots
Denoting daggers
(For your hard, straight grain).
Pure white bracts
Slowly open in early April,
Halos for tiny flowers;
Veined leaves stand crisp all summer,
Then autumn brilliance
Of deepest red presages
Winter’s bird-beloved berries.
If trees were humans,
You’d be an elegant lady,
Different robes for every season,
Rich damasks of green and garnet,
Sharing your graces
Equably, freely,
With everyone you greet.
