Lie Down: A Forester’s Directive
In May of 2024 I joined 70 foresters from Europe for the Pro Silva annual meeting in Slovakia. Pro Silva is a collaborative of foresters working to introduce close to nature forestry on the continent. It is a sister organization to the Forest Stewards Guild in the United States, of which I was a co-founder. I joined the Pro Silva meeting as the United States representative. Each year Pro Silva visits a different country, and although much of the conversation is in English we have translators available for the local foresters from whom we want to learn. During one trip to an old age beech grove, I was listening to the description by the interpreter about how the foresters like this grove best, and would come to it and lie down under the trees. When I heard the translator call out loudly “lie down,” this poem began to write itself under the beech trees.
© Pro Silva
Lie Down: A Forester’s Directive
Lie down and let the falling leaves cover your garments
If you time it right
You can disappear
In minutes
This isn’t shinrin-roku,
Or the next big thing to settle your mind
No one does this
It doesn’t have the dry husk of ritual
If it’s a forester’s communion
It’s not your first
And while it may be your last
That’s not for you to decide.
Take your marking gun and Biltmore stick
Set them on the altar of a rock
Remove the paint-stained orange cruising vest
Fold it, neatly, like a flag
Place it on the ground
Make strange signs with your hands
Asking the sympathetic ash
To drop her leaves, first and fast
Lie down in a shallow place
Stare up through the yellow branches
Into the blue sky
Wait
Breathe, the rhythm of the small things
It’s all around you
All around you
Robert (Bob) Perschel joined the New England Forestry Foundation in April 2012. Previously Bob was the Eastern Region Director for the Forest Stewards Guild, of which he was an original co-founder. In his 40 years as an environmental professional, he has worked on forestry, large landscape conservation, and wilderness issues. Bob worked for the forest industry before establishing his own forestry consulting business and founding the Land Ethic Institute. He then worked for The Wilderness Society, serving as Chair of the Northern Forest Alliance and Director of the TWS Land Ethic and Network of Wildlands Programs. Bob has a master’s degree in forestry from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a psychology degree from Yale College.