Banyan
Defying gravity,
the banyan shoots
grow up and down.
Their ropy arms are
the color of smoke.
The glossy green
the memory of summer.
Like that almost-forgotten
spot inside the border
of a painting frame,
breezes move grass and leaves.
Children swing and play here.
Their laughter quiet
as the gentle hush of stars.
Bonus Material:
- Banyans are the national tree of both India and Bangladesh.
- A banyan is a kind of fig tree, though its fruits aren’t safe to eat.
- Fig wasps and fruit-eating birds help disperse the banyan’s seeds.
- The Ringling Museum has 14 banyans on its property—some of which were around in the times of John and Mabel Ringling (1920s).
