For Sherry’s prompt at Real Toads, the art of Emily Carr, an artist from British Columbia, Canada. A very interesting artist.
Cedars on the Hill
Cedars are terribly sensitive to change of time and light – sometimes they are bluish cold-green, then they turn yellow warm-green – sometimes their boughs flop heavy and sometimes float, then they are fairy as ferns and then they droop, heavy as heartaches. – Emily Carr
I watch the cedars on the hill across the way
like I watch the changing of the seasons.
the deep blue green,
the paler green,
the red of the dying branches.
I walk among them
and brush my hands against them
taking their scent unto myself.
small creatures live beneath them
and birds build their nests in them.
I love them most when it snows
and creatures hunker for warmth
in them and beneath them.
beneath the heavy sky
they stand in groups
and are their own community.
Cedar – Emily Carr 1942
kanzen sakura 
Aug 01, 2019 @ 15:13:30
You don’t get many cedars in the UK, usually only in Kew, Wisley and other specialist gardens, as well as some parks and gardens of large stately homes. I think they are spectacular trees, especially as Emily Carr has described them in the quote, and as you have in your poem, Toni. The changing colours are enchanting, as is the scent, and the way they stand in groups, ‘their own community’.
Aug 01, 2019 @ 15:15:23
Thank you Kim. They are always huddled in groups, I think because they grow from offshoots of the roots. They have the most beautiful blue berries!
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Aug 01, 2019 @ 17:31:33
A vivid picture of life, scent and community…it sounds better than my flat!
Aug 01, 2019 @ 21:12:55
So lovely, Toni…you took me into the woods with you!
Aug 01, 2019 @ 21:17:56
Thank you Lynn!
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Aug 02, 2019 @ 21:26:38
Ha! FINALLY I can comment. I am using my facebook login….that seems to work. I think the glitch might be wordpress and blogger dont always recognize each other. I will try to remember to use facebook from now on when commenting. First, I love the cool Emily Carr quote you found. It is wonderful. Love your title, and the idea of the cedars being their own community on the hill. I especially love the small creatures living in and underneath their branches. So many small lives, living in, under and around those lovely trees. Thanks so much for writing to my prompt, and my apologies for the delay in your receiving my comment.
Aug 02, 2019 @ 21:45:42
Thank you Sherry. I love looking across and seeing their thriving community
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Aug 03, 2019 @ 13:17:47
Cedars are such a beautiful tree, you’ve captured their essence here Toni!
Aug 03, 2019 @ 13:49:05
A community of cedars.. a lovely image.
Aug 03, 2019 @ 13:52:27
And it is a lovely sight
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Aug 05, 2019 @ 12:16:03
“taking their scent unto myself” as if becoming a tree too and “they stand in groups / and are their own community.” and becoming part of the forest itself, part of a protective community that warms and shelters.