Poplar Trees Are Happiest by John Russell McCarthy
John Russell McCarthy’s poem took me back years to the boreal forests of Northern Manitoba, where I grew up. I vividly recall walking among the poplars in early September. This brief, lyrical poem captures that exact feeling: trees with personalities, a landscape that speaks, and a small, radiant joy.
Poplar Trees Are Happiest
by John Russell McCarthy
Poplar trees are laughing trees,
With lilting silver call.
Willow trees droop weepingly
And never laugh at all.
Maple trees are gorgeous trees
In crimson silks and gold;
Pine trees are but sober trees,
Aloof and very old.
Black-oak trees walk sturdily,
And live oaks eager run;
The sycamores stand lazily
Beneath the summer sun.
But poplar trees are laughing trees
Wherever they may grow—
The poplar trees are happiest
Of all the trees I know.
When I close my eyes and walk back to Northern Manitoba, I hear that exact sound: the poplars talking to one another, their leaves catching the wind and replying in a chorus of silver laughter. We called it ‘the bush’— a vast wilderness, but a familiar, living place. On those walks the world felt animated, as if the trees themselves were companions, witnesses, and keepers of small joys. McCarthy’s poem reminds me that happiness can be a quiet, shared music rather than a grand display. The poem’s simple pairs—willow and poplar, maple and pine—give each tree a character, and in naming those characters the poem invites us to listen more closely to the landscape we inhabit.
About the Poet
John Russell McCarthy (1889–1973) was born in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania and moved to California in 1920. His poetry appeared in “The New Yorker”, “Poetry Magazine, and other notable publications, earning him wide admiration in his time. Naturalist John Burroughs named McCarthy as one of only three poets of the early 20th century who brought both thought and emotion to their work, alongside William Vaughn Moody and Robert Loveman. Burroughs even praised McCarthy’s verse as “the best nature poetry since Emerson,” and invited him to his New York cabin in 1919, noting in his diary: “His acquaintance is the event of years to me. His poems have quality, like some rare new fruit.” Though D.H. Lawrence once dismissed one of his early poems as “nasty, obscene, vulgar in the last degree,” McCarthy’s career flourished as a poet, journalist, creative writing teacher, editor, and even forest ranger. Today, his poetry remains a reminder of the joy found in nature’s voice.
Further reading: The Waiting Hills by John Russell McCarthy on Internet Archive.
Poplar trees teach us to notice the gentle, everyday forms of happiness: the rustle of leaves, a remembered walk, the soft companionship of place. If we listen—really listen—we may find that joy is already present in the smallest motions of the world around us.
Until the next page turns, may the poplars’ laughter keep you company.
Rebecca
#JohnRusselMcCarthy #LyricPoetry #NaturePoetry #PoetrySalon #PoplarTreesAreHappiest #RebeccaSReadingRoom
"A present from Apollo" - a poem delivered by the sun, from Athenalogia by C. A. Corbell
#poetry #newpoetry #poem #shortpoem #apollo #sun #solar #lyricpoetry
Two of my lyrical poems come from songs heard in dreams. Both can now be heard on Spotify, as set to music by John Budrevo. The texts also appear in my book 1001 NIGHTS & OTHER SHORT STORIES.
‘Ko-Ki’s Rockin’ Tropic’
‘Goodbye, My Sweet Lucille’
#lyrics #songlyrics #lyricpoetry #lyricpoems #atbeaune #dreams #inspiration #goodbyemysweetlucille #kokisrockintropic #taiwan
made few statements about my new chapbook, "In Th Margins. . ." and i hope you might give them a read, it's like reading the book without buying it. of course would be awesome if you bought one too, ! $5 !
#poetry #smallPress #experimentalPoetry #foundPoetry #canlit #lyricPoetry
https://periodicityjournal.blogspot.com/2024/03/russell-carisse-few-statements-about-in.html?m=1
So I have a new chapbook in the world!
A personal work of found poetry, 'In The Margins. . .' follows the loose narrative of a youth breaking free of their petit bourgeois upbringing, the consequent love, and ego-death.
Only $5!!! click the link!
#poetry #poem #smallPress #experimentalPoetry #foundPoetry #constraint #lyricPoetry
https://abovegroundpress.blogspot.com/2024/02/new-from-aboveground-press-in-margins.html?m=1
On the way to online booksellers in an updated edition this year: ‘1001 Nights & Other Short Stories’
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includes:
‘1001 Nights: The Short Story’
• for 1 storyteller
• for 4 readers
‘Shoe Story’ screenplay
‘Three of Swords’ stage play
Lyrics & Lyric Poetry
• Boba Tea
• Bright Star of the Sea
• Sinfonia
• Goodbye, My Sweet Lucille
• Juilliardy
• A Seaside Psalm
• Koki’s Rockin’ Tropic
• Payola
• My Brother’s Mustang
• Taiwan Radio Two-Step
• When I Lived Abroad (Meredith’s Monologue)
‘Five Vignettes’
• Cocoa Beach
• Tallahassee
• Kromeriz
• Baltimore
• Hualien
Margin Filler (that’s a title)
Preview: ‘The Blacksnake’
Photos and images from films ‘Melodia,’ ‘Shoe Story,’ ‘Flight 109,’ and ‘Taiwan Photowalk’
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Thanks to every collaborator, including Holly Yifang Chou (costumière de cinéma), Patrice Delmotte and Cherya Murja (cover photo).
A T Books @Amazon Kindle
https://amazon.com/author/atbeaune
A T Books @XinXii Editions (EU)
https://www.xinxii.com/atbeaune-111456
#1001nights #books #literature #stories #films #plays #compilation #anthology #lyricpoetry #ebooks #atbeaune #taiwan
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