Pine Tree in Spring by Chinua Achebe

(for Leon Damas)

Pine tree

flag bearer

of green memory

across the breach of a desolate hour

Loyal tree

that stood guard

alone in austere emeraldry

over Nature’s recumbent standard

Pine tree

lost now in the shade

of traitors decked out flamboyantly

marching back unabashed to the colours they betrayed

Fine tree

erect and trustworthy

what school can teach me

your silent, stubborn fidelity?

Chinua Achebe

Albert Chinualumogu Achebe was a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic. His first novel Things Fall Apart (published in 1958) was considered as the most widely read book in modern African literature. He was born in Ogidi on 6 November 1930 and died in Massachusetts, USA on 21 March 2013.