< 3 a tree

I have always felt a will in trees
that was good. A woody will, striving
upwards, spreading out to breathe and
catch the light, pulling in long slow drinks
from the ground. It seems like it would be
a beautiful life of mostly peace. There would
be stress, momentary or periodic attacks of insect
infestation, getting in and boring away, drilling 
hot, busy tunnels through what had grown sound -
or disease, blights and droughts. But I feel like the tree
knows its own strength, and spends not a moment in worry.

It can feel what’s happening. It doesn’t sweat the small stuff,
knowing its own size, and how deep its roots, and how good
are air and light, and how well-made and shaped it's striven
up to be in good, woody will.

I would rather call trees wise than intelligent.

I think we can expand our idea of what constitutes intelligence,
but we should be cognizant in doing so that an amoeba’s, a tree’s,
even a dolphin’s intelligence is beyond our understanding - and
probably markedly qualitatively unlike ours.

I advocate humility before nature, and oppose a drive for gathering
into sameness. Which is not what you’re doing! At least, I didn’t
get the impression it was. In interaction with humans, I advocate
humility before nature, and an astonished recognition that the other’s
intelligence is probably beyond our understanding, and remarkably
qualitatively wild and - not “untrammeled,”

but perhaps trammeled
by different things than ours.
Home-grown trammeling factors,
grown up in ad hoc interlock of urges
and outcomes, stimulus and response.
Understanding how sh!t works from
one constrained point
of pluck and wonder:

the old battle.

Please consider other views than mine and yours.
In particular, please consider views of trees, if you can.
They can’t see, but I bet their leaves have a sense of light
superior to visual. It’s just that there was never any benefit
to visually-resolving approaching threats. They can’t run!

So they stood firm, and determined to outlast all fires
and gnawing squirrels, pecking birds rat-tat-tatting. “I am
a good place for such things. My strength is more
than any creature will ask of me.”

< 3 a tree