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A Ginkgo Tree
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My Ginkgo tree's alive
I knew he needed rest in winter
But didn't know
What kind of care was right
To give him rest
Without the risk
Of death
Last year
I desperately watered him-
Before I knew
That shedding leaves for him
Was part of life-
And he survived
This year
I put him pot and all
Into the house
Fearing the cold
Might harm him
We know so little
About those ancient trees
Much older than humanity
Now he is back
With other bonsai plants
In open air
I watered him
And watered him...
Despite the fact that
All his buttons looked
Quite dry and dead
Some days ago
There were- surprise-
Two tiny leaves
Quite tender
Close to the ground
Maybe the top
Won’t make it any more
And will fall off
The tree however
Our Ginkgo tree
's alive
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Gisela von Brunn: Born in Germany, Gisela von Brunn spent 37 years in Bolivia, where she raised her six children, most of the time on a remote jungle farm in the Amazon. After the last one had married, she returned to Germany, where she is currently responsible for the garden maintenance of the park surrounding the Baha’í House of Worship near Frankfurt. All her life she aspired to write, but ultimately the pressure of a homework assignment for her theater studies in 1999 became the necessary catalyst to action - resulting in the first of five successful plays, in Spanish. She has since written numerous short stories and poems in German and English. “Her” garden provides ample inspiration for Haiku poetry- her favorite genre.
In a postscript to Tanjah Aladabia’s editor, Gisela von Brunn states,
“Last September I gave up the garden work and moved in with my son’s family in northern Germany. My other children and grandchildren are living in Peru, Bolivia and Brazil”.
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Gisela von Brunn (Germany) (05/02/2008)
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