Blog

Some days we need a reminder that we’re stronger for all that we’ve faced and survived.

Welcome!

I’m running behind on so many things right now that I’ll have to keep today’s post short.
It’s been so wonderful seeing all of the unique, inspirational, empowering, comforting, and heartwarming poems from all of you..
Now I hope to return the favor.

Today, in honor of what little time we have left of National Poetry Month, I’ll be sharing a poem by Douglas Malloch called ‘Good Timber.’ I fell in love with this poem as a teenager and it’s stuck with me throughout the years. Like ‘Invictus‘ by William Earnest Henley and ‘Still I Rise‘ by Maya Angelou, ‘Good Timber’ is a captivating reminder that we will survive, we will rise, and we will be stronger for it.

Enjoy.

Good Timber

The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.

The man who never had to toil
To gain and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.

Good timber does not grow with ease,
The stronger wind, the stronger trees,
The further sky, the greater length,
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men, good timbers grow.

Where thickest lies the forest growth
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
This is the common law of life.

Well, that’s all for now.
Thank you so much for taking a moment to check out my post, I hope you liked it—and the poem.
And if you have any poetry recommendations, please leave them in the comments below, I’d love to check them out.

Is there a poem you can recite by heart?