The Ginko Tree

Daimiao Temple
Tai’an, China

At the foot of sacred Mount Tai where they say life began,
near the shrine where one prays to the Mountain God,
a small sapling appeared in the temple garden
in the dynasty of Han.

Her roots plunged deep into the soil of her native land,
piercing the dark past to nourish her scalloped fans
that reached heavenward, gathering stardust
for the scholar’s pearls

Now she soars above the temple’s gilded precincts, aloof
from feeble, man-made monuments, for she knows
architect and mason, carpenter and king span
but a moment of her life.

This Empress with an Emerald Crown bows to no man,
yet in dawn’s rising mist I hear her whisper homage
to five ancient pines planted in the garden
years before she was born.