Poetry Friday: Tree Traffic

Yesterday I was driving down one of the feeder highways to I-95. Traffic moved very slowly. Ahead of me I could see the reason: a huge truck going about 40 miles an hour, followed by a smaller vehicle with a "Caution: Wide Load" sign. The load was indeed wide: the bigger truck was taking up the better part of two lanes and continued to do so even when we merged onto the very busy I-95 South.

The long flatbed of the truck carried a lot of greenery, and I wondered if a nursery was taking a bunch of evergreens somewhere. Then I realized it was all one tree. The tree. The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree! Sure enough, when I pulled up beside the procession, that's what it was. A gigantic red banner proclaimed 75 Years... of something—I couldn't read the rest without causing a wreck. Like a little kid, I bounced up and down in the seat, honking and waving at the driver.

We always go into New York to see the tree and be festive during the holidays. Spotting it on the beginning of its trip to the city made my day. So, for Poetry Friday, how could I not go with Kristine O'Connell George's "Tree Traffic"? She writes not about the interstate but a "treeway" that's "heavily squirreled." The poem comes from the collection Old Elm Speaks, a 1998 picture book.

The Poetry Friday roundup takes place at A Wrung Sponge today. 

Comments

[Sara]

What a great story! I would've been bouncing and honking with you. I'm surprised that truck doesn't have a police escort.

Fun poem, too. Really clever in a brief, wry way.

[MJN/NYC]

A Christmas-tree traffic jam! Fantastic!

[Anne]

How exciting! That means it came from New England this year -- wonder which state. I used to see the tree lit up when I lived in the city. It was so magical.

What a fun story. Hope you all get into NY to see the tree when it's all dressed up and glittery.

[Jules]

I love that "rippling up and down." I don't think I appreciate the word "rippling" enough. It's pretty great.

Thanks for being the only person thus far to read the Robert's Snow poem (or at least to comment). I attempted an answer.

God, I miss reading your blog. I hope to get back to regular blog-reading soon.

[Mary Lee]

WOW! What an amazing sight to see...and I lovelovelove the connection to the Kristine O'Connell George's poem -- one of my very favorites of hers!

[cloudscome]

Love that! I always notice the squirrel traffic more when the leaves are down.

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[TadMack]

It's a real tree? A LIVE tree? Every year?
Wow.

[Susan T.]

Thanks for stopping by, everyone. I loved seeing the tree, which came from nearby Shelton, CT, this year. (Anne, I was driving down the 25/8 connector in Bridgeport when I saw it.) TadMack, yes, they cut down a real tree every year; the story usually makes the local NYC news.

I've been to the lighting of the tree in the past, but that's such a mob scene that I avoid it now. I've heard that there are a couple of departments at Saks where you can position yourselves at the window for good views. (Saks is across the street from Rockefeller Center.)