Ode to the Talisay - the Autumn Tree in the Tropics

Ode to the Talisay

- the Autumn Tree in the Tropics

Dr Abe V Rotor 

 

Talisay (Terminalia catappa)

You bring the autumn where there is none;

only monsoon have we, wet and dry;

you lose your crown before the rains come;

and at harvest time, you weep and cry.

Your ancestors left home eons ago

as the continents drifted apart;

divided by the cold and warm sea

surviving them here in this part.

You carry their genes of four seasons,

deciduous without winter snow;

emerging with new crown in summer,

and amihan* is your greatest show.~

*Season of cool winds, Siberian High, October to December