Ode to the Umbrella Tree

Ode to the Umbrella Tree

Talisay or Lugo' (Terminalia catappa)

"How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and

color are their last days." - John Burrows

Herbarium Art and Verse by Dr Abe V Rotor

Herbarium Art: Mounted leaves of talisay (Terminalia catappa)

  

Details: Imprint on acrylic, cured fallen leaves 

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.~         

                              Gem in the Setting Sun

  Autumnal equinox sun through a reddening leaf,

  measure of three quarters of the year gone;
  so too, the calendar of man's life swift and brief, 

  golden like precious gem in the setting sun

Talisay (Lugo Ilk) Terminalia catappa is a large tropical tree in the leadwood tree family, Combretaceae, that grows mainly in the tropical regions of Asia, Africa, and Australia. Common names in English include country almond, Indian almond, Malabar almond, sea almond, tropical almond, beach almond  and false kamani.