“What did the tree learn from the earth to be able to talk with the sky?”
– Pablo Neruda
Trees talk to me, how do they "speak" to you? Let me know how trees inspire you in the comment box below. Recently, scientists discovered trees talk to each other, but it seems we all like to talk to trees. Thousands of people have been writing to trees in Melbourne, Australia. The council gave each tree an email address so that residents could report broken branches and other damage. But, surprisingly, people have been emailing the trees: they send the trees their love, their admiration and their worries.
Trees are a part of us: they inspire poetry, art, architecture and faith. Our very breath depends on their conservation.
“Trees are poems the earth writes upon the sky, we fell them down and turn them into paper, that we may record our emptiness.”– Kahlil Gibran
How do trees inspire you? Reply here
Good morning Marchant,
I’ve recently read your book and was really moved by your words and the illustrations of the beautiful trees at Westonbirt. I have a few friends I would like to send it to so if you have three copies still left I’d like to purchase them. I’m staying at BC at the moment and could pick them up if that was easier and more convenient than sending them on to Bassaleg in Wales, where I will return today. Let me know what you think? Thanks Marchant for creating such a wonderfully evocative little book! With Sue S
Dear Marchant,
I have stumbled upon your website via Indeed and am struck! I would love a copy of your book (of poems) if it is still available?
You asked how trees inspire….as it happens we are about to move to a new home (today)….. it’s a long story and I won’t bore you with the details, suffice to say, we didn’t have a chance to see the garden before the move. Anyway to my utter delight, at the bottom of the garden there is a stunning and beautiful Oak tree, such a surprise in a modern housing estate…and what a gift! I’m already imagining placing a bench near to it so we can sit under it’s branches day-dreaming and enjoying the sunshine…..simply awesome!
I hope you keep writing and inspiring!
Jxx
i wrote a very short piece about my mother tree. see link below.
https://intentionalinterplay.wordpress.com/2020/02/14/mother-tree-a-guest-post-by-janice-fialka/
I would love to receive a copy of your book. Happy to pay for it but need info about how to do this. I live in United States. I am deeply moved by your video, poems, and ability to both see and support us all to see more deeply. Thank you
Dear Marchant,
I have just come across your wonderful homepage, and it’s so nice to see your work and lovely photos.
I’m so proud of the young and talented man you have become and of course I will order your book.
I hope to be able to see you soon – with or without my blow up Santa Costume!
Loads of love,
Alex, your favourite German OT
Hi Alex,
Mum told me we will be meeting soon. I will give you a book then. Thank you for your comments.
My next book is a novel based in Germany. So, my friend, I will need you to help me with my research. We will be going to the Brandenburg region next year, or maybe even this year.
Bis bald, Santa
Marchant
Hi, I have arrived at your poetry in a rather unconventional way (I found your website through a post on Indeed), and I love it!
In answer to the question of how trees inspire me, it has much to do with autumn, and the cycle of leaves returning to the earth. Each time I am enveloped in the falling leaves, I am reminded of the beauty of change. It is most possible to let parts of yourself go; inevitably you will gain more.
I thought I would share a small poem I wrote this autumn:
Amber falls around feet like honey
That sticks to both soles and memory,
And rusted wheels catch the falling leaves
When I cycle through the canopy,
Burnt by the wind, the brush
Of the carmine, and the vitality.
I would also love to ask about your book and if it would be possible for me to order one.
Wishing you the best for 2021 in a time that calls upon nature for the wellbeing of the mind.
Dearest Emma,
You are a gift to me. Not only do I feel seen but, your words have enriched my day with imagery and emotion.
Thank you. I will send you a book, a gift from me.
Love,
Marchant
P.S We will email you so that you can send me your address privately.
Dear Marchant, last year, 2019 I saw your wonderful poetry at Dartington. I was very impressed when I read your poem ‘Hear this’. What a special place for poetry. I was there because of Dartington Summer School.
Is it possible to order your book even though I live in the Netherlands?
I hope to be able to read many more beautiful poems from you.
Kind regards,
Ger
What a wonderful message to receive, thank you. We all need nature even more now to calm our virus twisted nerves. I will email you about my book wishing you a bright and healthy 2021.
With warmest wishes,
Marchant
I saw you on Meridian news a few years ago and the poetry really resonated with me and I found it beautiful, it takes me while to get around to things sometimes, but I have never forgotten how I liked it and would like to order some books. I love trees and photograph them a lot, I think have a great healing power and majesty.
Thank you for remembering me. I am very lucky to have made a connection with you.
I will send you an email regarding the books. Thank you!
Best wishes,
Marchant
Hi Marchant
Such a treat to meet you, Chris and Ted today with Willow. I’ve had a read of your tree poems (instead of doing my work, so you are a BAD influence as well as being a GOOD poet!) and I would love two copies of your book please.
Inspired? Definitely yes! As an artist (when I can be) of birds and insects, your words have inspired me to look more closely at the habitat ‘my’ creatures inhabit.
You are a true talent and chatting with you ‘made my day’. I hope to bump into you again very soon.
Lucy x
Hello Lucy and Willow,
You have made my day, Lucy. Thank you for your kind words and friendship on a country lane. I hope to see you again.
To a fellow artist and with best wishes,
Marchant
P.S. I will get the team to email you about the books.
I saw your beautiful artwork. I love geometry and this reflects the geometry in nature. Thank you, I would love to share your website: http://lucy-fraser.co.uk/index.php
Trees are learning to breathe again and we need them now more than ever.
Very profound on so many levels. Finely balanced, our lives hang. Thank you, Jooles. Marchant
Very inspired by your project with trees & would love a copy of your book if still available please.
Hi Claire,
Thank you for your kind words. We have sent you an email 🙂
Hi Marchant,
Lovely to meet yourself, Chris and Ted in the museum on this miserable but glorious morning. Your poetry is great, you’ve got mad skills (as we say in Dublin). Best of luck for the future.
Best,
Des
Hi Des,
I’m so sorry it has taken me this long to reply to you. Thanks so much for your lovely words; it was great to make a friend in you too! On such a wet and miserable day, finding your warming light was just what I needed.
With My Best,
Marchant
I have sought out the company of trees throughout my life. I find I need to share their energy, acceptance, encouragement.
I have not met you, but know Janet Tope, who worked with you at Bath University and sent me a link to the time you appeared on autumn watch. I just rediscovered the email, viewed it and looked for more information about your writings. I would love to get a copy of your book.
Hi Merriss
Marchant is at university at the moment and I know he will be absolutely delighted to receive your email. We will email you details of how to get hold of the book. Very best wishes,
Team Marchant
I visited Dartington Hall yesterday and was transfixed by the poems in the trees. They were awe-inspiring. I had to find your website and order your book so I could recall the words. I loved how they were twisted amongst the branches literally and metaphorically. Great quality poetry and accessible to all.
Dear Clare,
What a delightful message, it is as sunny as today. Thank you for your kind words. I will write to your email about how to get my book.
With warm summer wishes,
Marchant
Hi
We’ve just spent a week near to Dartington Hall enjoying walking round seeing the trees in the estate and alongside the River Dart. Earlier in the week we came across your wonderful poems and that led us to exploring your amazing website. My husband Phil then had an extra walk last Thursday evening and met you while the latest installation was happening. It made his day meeting you, as you said it did you! Just before we left to come home we were able to see the four sisters poem in place. What a great tribute to those magnificent trees. Yes, we’d certainly like your book – it would be a bonus if the ‘chandelier of broken rain’ is in there but no matter if not. We won’t forget that lovely phrase. All the best to you with your next project, whatever and wherever that will be.
Hi Liz,
I loved meeting Phil, and it was great to get your feedback. Thank you for your kind words. Last week I was at Dartington for the Evolving the Forest conference. ‘Chandeliers of broken rain’ is in the book but not the four sisters. I will write to your email re getting the book. Best wishes,
Marchant
Hello again – Just checking that you got my message and request to buy a copy of your book. Was so inspired by your words in the trees at Dartington. Mystical and thought provoking. Look forward to ordering your book. Gill Goodwin
Hello – Saw your words installation in the gardens at Dartington and would love a copy of your book. The setting was perfect for them and together with the wonderful setting they created a special experience. Your book would be an apt memento of this. Many thanks. Gill Goodwin
Thank you Gill for your lovely message. I will email you details of how to get my book.
Love Marchant
Hello, I have just found your poems in the trees in Dartington gardens, Devon; a place I have been coming to for over 25 years to wander and to sit, to play with my son when he was small and to grieve the loss of my parents more recently. The trees have been my companions and the bench beneath the beech tree is my spot! Your poem is just perfect – it says it all. That tree has a branch that sometimes bends to touch you when you sit on the seat and I just love the way you have captured the spirit of that place.
I would like to purchase a copy of your book if possible please.
Dear Sue,
What a wonderful way to start my Monday. Hearing your words was so humbling and uplifting. I feel the same about trees and get great solace from them. I hope you saw my other poem, Hear This. It is by the sweeping stairway beyond the Spanish Chestnuts. I will also install a new poem in the Spanish Chestnuts this week.
I will write to you privately on your email about how to order the book.
Many thanks,
Marchant
Dear Marchant
We visited you tree poetry installation at Westonbirt in Autumn 2017 and loved your poetry on the banners as set out around the grounds. So much so that I went into the shop asking about a book but was told there was none at that time. Recently came across the photos of our day again and the little booklet that I made up of our day there that was to inspire a terminally -ill friend through your poetry set against such beautiful trees. She loved the outdoors, trees and all things botanical. She died – from a brain tumour -six months ago but she too had enjoyed the poetry you wrote from the photo booklet I made up for her of our day at the arboretum. I would love now to buy a copy – in fact two copies if you can spare them – of the book your website refers to with the illustrations by Amy Robins as I can then give one to her widower and keep one for our own family and especially for my daughter who is off to study English Literature in September. Happy to cover the cost of the books and their post and packing of course.
You are a great poet and capture perfectly the majestic and wise nature of the trees all around us and the beauty of the natural world in all its seasons. We wish you well in your future writing and hope that you will publish more poems for us all to enjoy. Thank you and hoping to hear from you about the books.
Dearest Katy,
I am overwhelmed by your kind words. Such a gift on this spring day. I will send you an email and arrange for the books to be sent.
Thank you,
Marchant
Marchant , you are as inspiratioal and as knowing as the trees you paint with your extraordinary words .
Your poetry helps to wash away the dust of every day life from the soul .
I would dearly love to purchase a copy of your book …..
What a treasure ♥
Thank you for your kind, poetic words. I will write to you via your email.
Best wishes,
Marchant
I’m sitting in the welcome lodge at the botanic gardens in Bristol. I’m looking out at a kaleidoscope of colour. Your book has just been delivered, not to me, but I took a peek and I’d love a copy for myself and also for my sister. I love trees for their sound, movement and colour. Thank you for happening to come to the botanic gardens when I happened to be here.
Hi Marchant
I’d love to order a copy of the book please!
Hi Sarah, thank you for contacting me. I will email you!
Hi Marchant.
I pick your book up when I need a little inspiration. It is very uplifting and never fails to deliver.
I hope that we all hear more from you in the future.
Trees personify wisdom and reliability, a gentle peaceful calm strength, things we would like from the world and its people but so often lacking, especially now it seems… they rejuvenate the soul/spirit when one is tired and down, and your poems capture all these things and are there to recreate that inspiration when the trees are no longer in sight ..that is why i would love a copy of your book of poetry, two actually, one for me and one for a friend who suffers melancholic times during the winter months – your poetry also helped to bring inspiration back to her too. Thank you.
Dear Naomi, thank you for your words. I need trees when I am lost; they root me.
An email has been sent to arrange the delivery of Autumn, Caught for you and your friend.
Very best wishes
Marchant
Please could I get a copy of your book. My daughter and I loved reading your poems as we ambled round Westonbirt Arboretum.
Hi Jen, thanks for your message, it’s great to hear that you both enjoyed the installation at Westonbirt. An email will be sent to you directly to arrange delivery of Autumn, Caught.
Hi,
I would really love to order a copy of your book for my wife – please could you let me know how I can do this?
Thanks 🙂
Hi there, thank you for getting in touch! An email has been sent to you directly with details of how to order a copy of Autumn, Caught. Best wishes, Team Marchant
Hi Marchant, I chanced upon your beautiful poems in trees yesterday at the Kymin. One poem in and I was crying!
I had a look to see if I could buy your book, but the form seems to be missing. Is there another way to buy it?
Howdy! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a collection of volunteers and starting a new project in a community in the same niche.
Your blog provided us valuable information to work on. You have done a extraordinary job!
Hi Marchant
We are thinking of doing a similar project, encouraging young people to engage with their locality by writing poems about nature then displaying them – we are just checking you would have no objection if we incorporated your ideas of hanging them from trees!
Hi there,
I am happy for you to put poems in trees. I would also like to help you. I don’t know where you live, but I give a talk about how to write a poem for a tree. If you are interested, let me know.
Many thanks,
Marchant
Hi Marchant – we are in Guildford in Surrey – perhaps you can give me more details about the talk? I’d love to include this if possible.
Best wishes
Nick
Hi Nick, I will email you directly.
Best wishes,
Marchant
Dear Marchant
I just came across your Westonbirt poems & installations and wondered whether you would be willing to let us use some as part of the Wye Valley River Festival that we are running between 5th-19th May 2018. Have a look at the River Festival pages on our website and the Wye Valley River Festival Facebook page and do get in touch if you might be interested.
Cheers
Andrew Blake
Wye Valley AONB Manager
Dear Andrew, I am very happy to be involved. I will email you directly. Thank you, Marchant
Hey Marchant – Just wanted to say what an amazing gift it was to receive your book. The Autumnwatch team gave it to me when I came in to deliver the Kingfisher footage i shot for Winterwatch. You gave me such inspiration on the day we worked together and I feel humbled to have met you and learnt what you do. I love the poems and the book will sit proudly on my shelf. Take care and keep writing.
Very Best Wishes
Richard Taylor-Jones
That is praise indeed from such an artistic film maker. Thank you for doing such a great piece. Marchant
HI Marchant,
I am also disabled and have enjoyed listening to the poems being read to me. Do you have any plans to record your poems? This would be great so that I can enjoy listening to them. Reading is quite difficult for me.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Svend Hunter dictated to SHH
Hi Sven, I prefer audio things too. For this reason, my poems are on the website as an audio version. I was very lucky the BBC allowed us to use their studios to record the poems. The audio files can be found in the poetry section of my website (the player can be found just above the text for each poem).
Best wishes, Marchant
Good afternoon,
I was lucky enough to receive a copy of your book of poems for Christmas. I am currently organising the funeral of my Grandmother who loved nature and sadly passed away just before Christmas.
Would it be possible for me to use the poem ‘Hallowed’ in her funeral service please?
Best regards,
Alison
I would be honoured for you to use my poem, ‘Hallowed’. Thank you and best wishes at this sad time, Marchant
Dear Marchant,
That is really lovely, thank you so much.
Best wishes,
Alison
Dear Barron 2 more copies of your book arrived this week which I asked for. However I can’t find out how to pay for them. Could you please send me the information via my email and I will rectify. I am giving them to 2 friends as their Jolabokaflod books on Christmas Eve. Have a Merry Christmas x
Dear Joyce, an email will be sent re payment details. Thank you and merry Christmas!
Good morning,
I’ve just received your excellent Autumn Caught book and now need to pay you. Could you please send payment details as I’ve inadvertently lost the original email!
Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Peaceful New Year.
Regards,
Steve Hood
Please could you let me pave payment details. Thank you
Hi there, we will send the details to you via email. Many thanks!
Hi Marchant, my copy of “Autumn Caught” arrived the other day, and I have read it from cover to cover…more than once! I think you have an extraordinary talent, choosing words and metaphors that capture the imagination, capture mood and enhance feeling. I am lucky enough to live within what used to be a Victorian arboretum, our house being part of a converted stable block, so we are surrounded by the most beautiful trees – the autumn colours here are spectacular. Thank you for your work.
I find peace and solitude amongst the trees,I am lucky,I have Wakehurst Place on the doorstep where I can lose myself amongst the beauty of giants,I can hear them,even amongst the silence,I touch them and feel at one with them,Many thanks ,I received the book today,Beautifull,Payment follows,
Regards,Ant
Just received my copy today. Thank you. It is such a lovely book.
I have decided to ordermore copies for people I know who will appreciate the words, sentiments and drawings as much as me.
I have rarely heard words so beautiful that they stopped everything around me. Enveloped in what I was hearing some small previously unused place in my psyche fired up allowing me into someone else’s world; a world I had often been in but never seen until now. Stunning; simply stunning.
The pre-0rder/questions page doesn’t work. It wouldn’t accept my name – just kept coming back with ‘this is a required field’ even though my name was clearly typed there. I only wanted to know if this book as available for order in time for Christmas
Hello Kate, I’m so sorry that you have had problems with the pre-order form. The book is available now and I will email you directly. Marchant
My favourite poem is “Hear This”, because I too believe the trees are listening!
Some people choose to meditate in a quiet dark room, with their eyes and ears closed to the outside world. My choice of meditation however, is to take a walk in Epping Forest or Broxbourne Woods. For me, ancient woodlands are spaces that contain a source of spiritual energy. Where time stands still and where my mind can offload fatigue and negativity. I thrive on the fact that I might not see a sole. That it’s just me and the trees. I feel that the trees are watching me and listening to my thoughts. I am conscious and awakened to all the colours, sounds and smells. Life is beginning, growing, slowing and perishing all around me. Woods are truly magical places and great mind healers.
Trees are refuge-givers: I, too, know that truth. I have and will always find peace in woodland.
Many people will not get to see the Autumn Silk Wood Trail before it ends but I hope the record online will do it justice. “Hear This” is a personal highlight for me too; in many ways it was the start of the project as I began with the feeling you describe: communicating with nature through silence and “the senses”.
Thank you for your insights, they are also magical! Marchant
I had the true privilege of visiting Westonbirt Arboetum on Sunday, with a particular interest in seeing your installation Marchant, I was with a dear friend who couldn’t speak more highly of you. I can honestly say that the entire experience moved me in a way that I can’t describe, although what I do now know is I shall never look at or think of a tree in the same way again. What you have created is simply beautiful and inspiring – beyond words, on so many levels. Thankyou.
I am moved by your words, Fleur, and so honoured that you wanted to see my installation personally. You are the one to thank. Marchant
Usually I do not read article on blogs, but I wish to say that this write-up very forced me to try and do so! Your writing taste has been surprised me. Thank you, quite great article.
Thank you for such a compliment. I hope you love trees as well as words. Marchant
I visited Westonbirt today feeling sad because my wonderful, loving mother died a year ago. The weather was beautiful, the colours of the leaves vibrant and glowing and then I found your extraordinary poems. I read each one several times and, by the time I left, my heart was full of joy and gratitude.
Thank you for sharing them and I know my mum would have loved your poems too.
Shirley, what an incredible honour! I am so thrilled you found joy in my words. I am truly touched by your message. I would have loved to know her thoughts too. With my best, Marchant
Thank you for your words and for sharing how you experience the world. My 8 yr old daughter, partner and i read them to each other and they enriched are woodland walk.
Hi Sam, I’ve just got a new book which your daughter might love. It’s called “The Lost Words” by Robert MacFarlane. It is a beautifully illustrated book of poetry. Thank you, Marchant
Thought provoking and delightful. The poems I saw enhanced my enjoymentof wonderful Westonbirt Aboretum in the Autumn. Taking time to read them and the accompanying notes on your website was a real pleasure too. Thank you.
It is a real pleasure to know you have read my words. Thank you Sara.
Thank you so much for kindly sharing your wonderful poems here and also the references to poets and poems that have inspired you. I love nature and plan to dabble at writing a few lines myself to express that love and gratitude too for all that nature offers. I am glad that I planted some trees in my garden which I and the wildlife enjoy. Wildlife needs all the help it can get at these times.
Your joy of writing and love of words and wordplay is itself a joy and inspirational.
PS: is there a book on the basics of writing poetry that you recommend for a start like me?
Good morning, Terry. I have an image of you by your trees but I’d prefer to sit with you by the trees, then the poem would come. So, my advice is to sit by a tree and feel. You are already a poet: wait for the words, they will creep up on you. I will send you my rough notes (to your email address) on how to write a poem for a tree. While they are rough, you might get something from them but no book can tell us how to feel, that is the essence of poetry.
Marchant, thank you so much for kindly sending me your notes which I found very absorbing with much wisdom and advice therein, especially your recommendations about getting physically closer to nature and allowing feelings to arise. It is most encouraging to read that: “You are already a poet”!
You are clearly very well read with a considerable knowledge of other poets. A couple of books on writing poetry, which I have read, stress the need to read a lot of poems, advice which I warm to but when they go on to discuss technicalities it leaves me rather cold. Recently I have enjoyed reading the poetry of Wendell Berry and Gary Snyder.
I look forward very much to receiving your book and wish you well with your work, Terry.
Hi Terry, it is a pleasure to help a new arrival to poetry writing. My respect, Marchant.
Really super work, special poetry and unusual use of words to describe the trees, leaves and seeds. It made me think about the trees in a different way. Reading your poetry at Westonbirt gave us much pleasure. Thank you.
Hi Jean, you are very welcome. The trees are poems themselves, each with their own unique structure. Thank you, Marchant
Marchant, I was genuinely blown away by your words, their explicit unambiguous perspicacity. Your writings are truly evocative and inspiring, simultaneously. Thank you for sharing these wonderful insights into your conversations anc reasoning. I truly loved reading them. You are a true redwood in the forest of this beautiful planets poets.
Dear Mark, you are a wordsmith and a true lover of trees – an oak! Thank you, Marchant
If ever you want a reader for future work I would be honoured, and love, to read your words out loud
mandy
Thank you, Mandy, I always need readers! Marchant
Hi Marchant, I too saw your Poem ‘Tanglefoot’ featured on Autumnwatch and I am completely inspired and blown away by the beauty of your words. I can’t really explain how profoundly they have spoken to me. The shortness of the poems to me adds to their beauty, for succinctness develops a concentration of the vocabulary that makes very word and its placement mean something. I feel they touch something deep inside me which has a meditative quality to them and I will read them many times. Thank you so much, you have a wonderful gift. Mandy
Thank you for your thoughtful words, Mandy. You can definitely be one of my readers! Marchant
Hi Marchant. My wife and I were so inspired by your words on Autumnwatch and look forward to the book. Never been to Westonbirt but will go in Autumn 2018. Cheers Paul and Angie
Dear Paul and Angie, I’m so glad my poetry has inspired you both to visit Westonbirt! It is a stunning place but I hope the trees near you now suffice ’til next Autumn: every tree has an inner beauty like people.
Beautiful words from a beautiful heart. Every tree and every poem individual. All with their own souls. Thank you for sharing your wonderful talent.
To a soulmate: thank you. Marchant
Saw your piece on Autumnwatch, privileged to have found you and your work. Hallowed is a real inspiration and beacon of hope for anyone struggling with darkness.
Important work from the soul. Thank you. Keep writing!
Thank you, Simon. It is quite telling how many people seem to connect with “Hallowed”. Everyone harbours darkness in different shades and shapes; it is one way everyone is linked; it is one way you and I are linked. Thank you for your support, truly, Marchant.
I’ve just been catching up with this week’s Autumnwatch and was so captivated by your poetry. I’m taking my laptop to bed and will be clicking on the links to read your poems in full. Can’t wait! You are a truly inspirational, talented young man, Marchant. Thank you for bringing inspiration and beauty to my day. 🙂
Hi Jaynie, I’m reading this on my laptop in my kitchen! Thank you so much for your impassioned interest. With my very best, Marchant
I was at Westonbirt last Tuesday with a friend. We didn’t read the leaflet and so it took us a while to realise that the banners on some of the trees were poetry but we were moved by the last few words of ‘Hallowed’ and suddenly realised it was part of a poem! When we got home we Google and found out more and then that evening, there you and your poems were on Autumnwatch. I have said I would like to buy your book of poems so hope it will go ahead.
Thank you so much for your comment. I am glad you stumbled upon the poems: that is how I intended them to be found! With my best, Marchant
I loved your moving poems which I saw featured on Autumnwatch. It inspired me to think more deeply about nature, and our relationship with it, a living, breathing thing that heals and soothes. I live near the arboretum at Kew, and I love to walk in the woods, but I shall remember to stop, think and gaze more closely following your example. You have an unusual eye for detail in nature that reminds me of Gerard Manley Hopkins. Thank you for this .
Hi Alice, Gerard Manley Hopkins is one of my favourites so, thank you so much for that comment! He inspired me to play with words like “thudburst” and “shadowspill”. Marchant
Marchand, reading your poems this morning in Westonbirt brought your chosen trees to life, giving them character and evoking deep thoughts and emotions.
As regular visitors to the Arboretum we are delighted that your poetry is being shared with a wider audience in the most appropriate and eye catching way.
The cleverly designed displays enhanced our enjoyment and experience of this beautiful place. Thank you.
I always wanted my words to be among the trees and for people to find them unexpectedly. I am glad you liked them. Thank you, Marchant
Inspiring film on Autumn watch..
Thank you so much..
Best wishes
Andrew and Phi
Thank you, Andrew and Phi. Best wishes in return, Marchant
I didn’t spot this question at first: I am inspired by their complexity and diversity. They are simply beautiful yet adaptable, striving to live and grow, even against adversity. They offer tranquillity and provide a sense of perspective; forever changing.
Thank you, Darren. Amy, the artist illustrating my book, is struggling to draw as I write this message … so we know how hard it is to capture trees! Hopefully it will be finished in two-to-three weeks. Thank you for your observations about trees: I agree, Marchant.
Heard your poems on Autumn Watch. I thought they were wonderful. I too identify with trees; I am calmed by them and inspired by them. I try to paint them from time to time, with poor results but I enjoy the process. When will your book be published?
Lovely words. I look forward to the book.
Makes me feel a wimp for letting a bit of arthritis limit me though.
We all struggle and some days are hard but reading how you enjoy my words helps me too. Thank you, Marchant.
I Love autumn watch but last night’s episode with poetry by you was not only the icing on the cake but also the cherry on top! Beautiful, sublime and truly Inspirational. I can’t wait for your book to come out and i look forward to receiving the email that let’s me know when.
I am moved by your response. Love to you, Joyce. Marchant
I have just got to say what a wonderful poem from such a lovely wonderful man. I found watching this on Autumn Watch so moving yet absolutley wonderful. You are a very inspiring man. Thank you for sharing your poem.
Tina
I write to connect with people. Thank you Tina
Just watched Tuesday’s Autumnwatch about your poetry trail, very impressive and inspirational
Thank you David
I loved the richness of vocabulary you used in the poems read out yesterday on Autumn Watch. They were so evocative. I would like to read them myself. Are they published anywhere? I wish you every success as a poet.
Hello. I do have an illustrated book coming out in a few weeks. If you go on the website, you can find it in the new section “Book” as a pre-order. But please feel free to read my poems which are all on the website already. Thank you, Marchant.
Hello Merchant,
You met my dog Henry in Clifton a few weeks ago. It was really exciting to see you on the TV today as I had told my kids about Henry meeting you. Will take them to see the poems in the trees this weekend…v inspiring.
Love to Henry, Hector and – of course – you and your family! Hope to meet you again. Best wishes, Marchant.
Thank you for sharing with us your truly amazing poems. They are all thought provoking as well as beautiful. I’m so pleased that I found your website (via Autumnwatch).
In answer to your question at the top of this page:
How Trees Speak To Me – I think that trees and nature speaks to us all, if only we would stop, for long enough to listen. If I take the time, I hear the breeze in their leaves in summer, and the crunch of leaves underfoot in autumn. In winter, if I listen carefully, I hear them creaking in the wind, and in spring I hear their new leaves unfurling. In my heart I know that all year round, deciduous and conifer, are wanting us to take care of all in this world, including them (the trees) that live with us here.
They inspire me creatively, in all seasons. They also inspire me to get outdoors and enjoy them, and all of nature that is on my doorstep and beyond 🙂
Natasha
We are connected: every one if us and every tree. But we forget this. Thank you, I will remember your words. Marchant
I believe too that we are all connected. And I look forward to seeing more of how they (the trees) speak to you and inspire you in the future 🙂 Natasha
Marchant, your words root us in our environment, our world, our souls. Thank you so much for creating a rich and vibrant world where we can journey with you. Your poems are inspiring, provoking, challenging and depict the importance of nature for each of us.
Keep sharing with us, shout from the roof tops, convince the skeptics and forever extol the beauty, value and worth of trees and our natural world.
With your words, I feel more connected and this is why I write. Thank you, Marchant.
Dear Marchant.
I believe you genuinely captured the spirit of the trees in your work. I am so pleased your poetry was showcased in Autumnwatch, because it gave me the opportunity to look at your website and read the research behind such intuitive words. I have studied and drawn trees for many years and now, thanks to you, I will look beyond their beautiful forms and the challenges they face. You have truly inspired me.
Thank you.
I would love to see your art; I really admire anyone who can capture the beauty of a tree. Thank you for your kind words, Marchant
What a talented young man. As a regular visitor to Westonbirt throughout my life, I really felt your love and understanding of the atmosphere that is there. As a teacher, I also understand the importance of words to inspire, console, reassure. Your words embrace time, history, emotion. Something to hold onto in a world of increasing uncertainty. Thank you Marchant for sharing your gift.
Your words are a gift to me. Thank you, Marchant
Dear Marchant,
Thank you for your poems. Your Autumn Watch appearance was also wonderful. My favourite poem is “Hallowed” because I feel that shadows are often the place from which we can understand ourselves best. And the tree canopy always looks spectacular from there too.
My favourite tree is a yew in Compton Dundon churchyard. We visited the church a lot with our Granny and Pappa when I was younger. The trunk of the yew has hollowed out from the inside, and I remember my cousins and brother trying to squeeze themselves inside! It is one of the oldest yews in England, and Granny tells me that it is often visited by those from overseas. But for me, it is the tree that will always remind me of my Pappa and how much wisdom great age holds.
Continue to write and inspire, my friend.
Love, Anna
To my friend: we see all of each other, especially our shadows. “People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.” – Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross M.D
How wonderful, Marchant, that your words are inspiring so many people: you have such a powerful voice as a poet and yet I also love the humility of your words. They do, indeed, ‘unfold’, as you so elegantly express in Hear This. Having returned to the Silk Wood for my second visit recently, I was amazed at how many layers are revealed by re-reading your work. There will be thousands of people sustained and uplifted as they read your poetry. Thank you for freely sharing your gifts.
Kate Maddock
I was inspired by all my teachers at Bristol Grammar but I will never forget your kindness. Thank you, Marchant
Hi Marchant, we visited your wonderful exhibition of poetry with Luke. I’ve always loved trees, gazing upwards at the spiraling branches that frame the sky, silent witnesses of time. Your poetry hints at their secret knowledge and captures some of their mystery. This reminded me that only poets have the wisdom to truly express our connection with Nature. I particularly liked Hallowed and the verse, ‘watch the yews paint evergreen on this cloistered eclipse of sky’. What a delightful depiction of natural beauty. The imagery is so fresh and original. Well crafted.
When I am with Luke, I feel calm like being with the trees. Thank you for your beautiful words and your amazing “Sun”.
Well, having met ‘Pirates’ in Cornwall, bumping into you in Westonbirt I now see why you are as famous as you are!!!
Absolutely magical! The work involved was interesting to read and how wonderful your poems are!!! Loved seeing you all again! ??
Shiver me timbers, Lady Lancaster!
Visited the Arboretum with Fiona yesterday. It is amazing to see this collection of wonderful trees, and I always return home feeling renewed, refreshed and calm. Discovering your poems in the Silk Wood made me stop and really focus on the trees you’d chosen. It made my visit extra special. Thank you.
My idea was to have people stumble upon my words when the trees had already sparked their magic. Best wishes, Marchant
Hi Marchant I will be coming over to see your installation on Friday really looking forward to it. The poems are very beautiful. Could you put a Facebook share button on the poems so I can spread your inspiring work? Well done Fi
Thank you for the suggestion – great idea! Marchant
I live in Tetbury and visit Westonbirt arboretum most days with my puppy, Bobby. I love to wander amongst the towering, majestic trees of Silkwood just gazing upwards as if visiting a glorious, medieval cathedral. When I first saw your scarlet banners I was caught up in the wonderful imagery of your words. They caught me in their spell summoning up magical pictures in my mind, creating music in the amongst the branches and evoking mystical echoes of the past. What a lovely gift to bestow on us! Thank you.
I love this section of the website, it always changes, Sally. Always new additions, much like Westonbirt. I’m so grateful to everyone who reads my poetry but to sum it up like that is truly humbling. Hope you and Bobby return soon.
Thank your for such evocative words. I look forward to my young children reading them on the trail.
I have been so impressed with the children reading my poetry at Westonbirt. I hope your children enjoy the words too. Marchant
There is a wonderful book called “The secret lives of trees” that I would absolutely recommend to anyone who is inspired by them, you will never look at them In the same light again 🙂
Totally agree, Bobbie! I’ve already got a copy – it’s a great read. Thank you, Marchant
I wish we had the chance to work with some of the woods when you were a student at our school but it is clear you see more in their beauty and know about their origin even more than I appreciate when I physically work with them. A trip to Westonbirt is now high on my priorities and I look forward to seeing you again one day.
Phill Thomas (D.T. teacher).
Thank you Mr Thomas, great to hear from you. Marchant
Fantastic Marchant. Your words as always are enchanting and suffused with beauty. I enjoyed every one and will return to read again.
Thank you, Michelle. Kind words as ever! Marchant
Brilliant. Just brilliant. Our 6 year old read every single word and loved it…..coincidentally, one of her special topics at school this half term is poetry about autumn, so we’re going to forward your details to her teacher. Fingers crossed they’ll use your words to help inspire the class.
All the best.
Tom, Emma (& Eva).
Well done to your daughter, what an amazing reader! If I can help if the school goes to Westonbirt, do let me know; I will try to be there to talk about poetry.
Marchant, thank you. This was a truly remarkable installation of words and thoughts. As a painter I have not seen anything quite as beautiful in terms of colour, texture, form and structure. What you have achieved compares to the greatest of landscape artists from Turner to Peter Lanyon and Patrick Heron. Words often say so much more, and within your work you have created an exhibition which is a smorgasbord of delights.
Thank you so much, I am moved by your words. It is very important to me to get an artists’ perspective on my installation.
It’s a triumph, Marchant. Great writing, and very genuinely a conversation with the specific trees, their particular qualities and their intertwined involvement in the human story via medicine, science, technology, culture. And in your story, too. The lines are strong, and the artful presentation makes one very conscious of poetic form – of line length, stanza shape, breath, etc. – in an entirely new way. I enjoyed all the poems, but particularly loved the yew henge of ‘Hallowed’. The last poem, ‘Beech Book’, in its discussion of how the carbon dioxide exhaled in the passing conversation of Westonbirt’s visitors gets absorbed into the trees, to rest there, in the wood – wood from which we make paper, and books, and your resulting word-play on the arboretum as a library, is really inspired. And inspiring. I loved it. I’m also amazed by your energy and vision in bringing this into being. Thanks for the red ticket. Salute!
This means a great deal to me, coming from you. Thank you. Marchant.
My grandchildren Theo and Zachary Bright like to hug trees. We will aim to go to westonbirt this Autumn to see your Poems. I’m Marie Days mum , she was your nanny and carer for many years from when you were two along with your mum and others. I am so impressed with how far you have come since then and what you have achieved. You are a wonderful example of how hard work, determination and the right support can give the opportunity to develop and achieve for anyone of any ability level x Sue
Hi Sue, I stil think of you and treasure the years I spent with Marie.
WOW!!! This is so amazing !!! I’m so proud of you , you’re such a talented , smart and truly beautiful old soul … Good job team !!!
Well done Marchant et al. Can’t wait to see all the poems in the trees!
Congratulations, Marchant and well done to all the team. I remember my father singing this song. Trees.
The words are by Alfred Joyce Kilmer who wrote under the name of Joyce Kilmer. The singer is Bob from Sesame Street!
https://youtu.be/jW1SY09cQhQ
Fantastic
Thank you Lesley, I hope you enjoy my poems and are able to see them ‘in the trees’ at Westonbirt. Marchant.