Lions Mane

No one saw the nut that fell
and lodged in the Earth
nor the sprout that would foretell
the story of rebirth
but that hick’ry whip it grew
into a mighty tree
over many generations,
reached the canopy

Drank the sun and rain;
let the wind sing through her leaves
held tons of CO2 in her
graceful wooden body
cast her shade upon the ground
a shelter from the storm
many nests she held in her
strong branchin’ arms

She was the oldest hickory
in Newton County
a home up in the sky
for one and all
a bounty of mast
when summer was past
a golden torch in the fall

Timber! Timber!

No one knows how old she was
when she hit the ground
first a crack like thunder
then she’s coming down
The bird songs were silent
an eerie quiet fell
the landscape where a forest stood
now looked alot like hell

Timber! Timber!

And the oldest hickory
in Newton County
lay there still and dead
on the ground
Traded for some dollar bills
and a bumpy ride to an old sawmill
that old hickory just got cut down

Timber! Timber!

No one knows exactly where
that hickory lumber went
boards and pallets, floors and mallets,
baseball bats and chips
Still i don’t see anything
we make compares at all
to the glory of that hickory
turned golden in the fall

And the oldest hickory
in Newton County
How many hundred years
she held her ground
til a man came along
with a sigh and a saw
and cut that hickory down..

Timber! Timber!

Original song lyrics ~ 2022