The 5 Key Elements of Trees Cora Freeman

The 5 Key Elements of Trees

When I see trees of green, what do I see? Well, I don’t see what everyone else sees, what I’m supposed to see. What I see is a moving system. I see love, hate, protection, and so much more. I think of the skeletal system: the bones, the joints, the tendons— all joined together, moving.

When I see trees of green, what do I see? Well, I don’t see what everyone else sees, what I’m supposed to see. What I see is family. You, me, mother, brother, sister: linked together like little ligaments in your bones. Again, all joined together, moving.

When I see trees of green, what do I see? Well, I don’t see what everyone else sees, what I’m supposed to see. What I see is hurt. Sometimes these trees of green encounter mistakes, like when our branches break off, like our bones can break away until there is nothing left.

Bone cancer: picking and eating away at you until there is nothing left, no more movement left. But then you think, what are the 5 key elements of those trees of green? Love, hate, protection, family, and hurt. When I see trees of green, what do I see? Well, I don’t see what everyone else sees, what I’m supposed to see. I see you. You are a tree of green.

Cora Freeman, Grade 7 Sanford Middle School, Minneapolis Teaching Artist: Frank Sentwali