I stood in Herald Square as a child,
looking at a tree for a long time.
I talked to that tree, wondering
what it contributed to the world.
I realized this tree has provided
oxygen and showed us strength,
it began as a seed and grew into
a magnificent tree.
“What are we all bringing to the world?
To each other? What did Edgar Allan Poe
bring to the world?” I asked the tree one day.
“He brought the Mystery,” replied the tree.
“Elvis?”
“A Star,” said the tree.
“The Beatles?”
“A Fairy Tale,”
murmured the tree.
“Pink Floyd?”
“The Architecture of Sound,”
answered the tree.
“OK, but Jesus?”
“God, of course; Jesus brought God
to the world.”
“Herman Melville? Bach? Beethoven?
Frank Lloyd Wright? William Frederick Lamb?
Pele? Neil Armstrong? Rumi and Rustaveli?
Newton and Tesla? Van Gogh and Gauguin?
Chaplin or Hendrix or Jung?”
I asked question after question, and time passed
as I searched for answers. I grew up, the world
changed, and I returned to that tree in Herald
Square after many years, still questioning,
but now with my son. I told him:
“See that tree over there? Remember that tree.
You might wonder what it brought to the world.
Well, you know, one day that tree will also ask you
the same simple question:
“What did you bring to the world?”
