The tree in the neighbor's yard

There is an old pine tree in the next-door neighbor's yard, which I have been watching for a long time.  It must have been planted from a little Christmas tree when we first moved in here 35-40 years ago.  I have always loved trees, since my neighborhood is actually a large sand dune, and I watched this tree grow along with my children for many years.  It was a place for birds to build their little nests and watch their own children hatch, and it provided food and shelter for other animals.  My own cat loved to sit near the tree and catch mice. 

Over the years it started intruding on other people's property and one day the neighbor had hired gardener's to trim the tree and weed his overgrown yard.  The workman lopped off the limbs that hung dangerously over the fence.  Then as time went on, the grounds filled with overgrown bushes and dead grasses and the tree slowly died.  At first it was one or two branches, and then I noticed the top of the tree was also very dry and gray.  Bird's still made their nests there in the Spring, but it mostly attracted big black, squawking crows.  Some day, the tree will crumble and fall and provide nourishment for all those overgrown wild plants, but it seems so sad.  Now I just wish the neighbors would cut the tree down, since it blocks my little view of the ocean, but I guess I will just have to wait for the tree to fall itself.  In the meantime, I see that there is a new little tree sprouting from the old tree--a new generation and we start again.

Last month I was out in my own yard on a beautiful, warm day weeding my plants when I heard strange noises coming from the tree.  Then slowly this poem began surfacing in my mind:

There's an old pine tree in the yard next door
That had been growing and growing 'til it could grow no more.
It began fading and fading til it's boughs were dry,
But it's grey-coned limbs still reached to the sky.

It seemed so dead, as dead as can be,
For it's heavy branches cracked and fell away free.
Then one day strange noises I heard,
Like crackling and crunching which sounded so weird.

It seemed like the old tree came alive,
Munching on foliage so that it would survive.
The mystery was solved as I gazed at a bough.
Since sitting there quietly was a mean ole'crow.

And suddenly without warning amid squawking cries,
A flock of those black-winged birds took to the skies.
It seems that this tree which is such a fright
Is in the right mood for Halloween night.