A Poem as Lovely as a Tree?

I know I am dating myself.

But back in the good old days
we began our studies at Ridge Street
grammar school
in Newark with
"auditorium".


Each auditorium ended with our singing the song version of Joyce Kilmer's "Trees" poem. I can still remember the first line:


I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree


And of course, the last line:


Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree


The middle is a little hazy but the poem/song was an ode to nature and a clear statement that Kilmer believed what men build/write can not compare to what God has created.


With that poem having ensconced itself in my 5 year old consciousness, one of the few memories I have carried forward from my childhood, I find it incredulous that the town of West Orange has been without a tree ordinance for eight months.


This is an issue that has broader implications than just the development project behind the West Essex Highlands as the absence could negatively impact on any area of the municipality.


But, there may be a guardian for West Orange trees in the making of a new resolution. The City Council members working with an envrionmental advocate/attorney who resides in the Highlands now have the first draft of a tree ordinance in hand.


Revisions to the first draft are being put into effect at this moment, and the new edition (there apparently have been several) is projected to be ready for first reading at the City Council's next meeting scheduled for April 29.


You don't have to be a "tree hugger" to have concern that this ordinance be adopted and asap. Come to the Council meeting and let your attendance count visably as your interest in this extremely important aspect to quality of life in West Orange."