One Thing Singing To Itself - Brand New Poem
The Matchbook | 8.15.25
Did you know, the largest living creature on the entire planet is not, in fact, the blue whale? Did you know it’s a single grove of aspen trees that all share a single root system, that it covers 80 football fields, that its weight is over 13 million pounds? Did you know it has a name?
Pando. The Trembling Giant.
Today is another glimpse inside the book that will soon be, The Never Was, and it’s one of my favorites. I have this habit of jotting down scientific facts when I learn them, little bits of knowledge I stumble upon that feels poetic to me. Sometimes they become poems, sometimes those poems don’t quite get finished. Sometimes they begin in the middle of a thought, like today’s did, the middle of a sentence even.
Today’s poem, is so graciously provided to the whole of you by the unbelievable kindness and support of the paid subscriber community. They have taken the step to financially support this place, these words, this strange autistic artist that lives in the mountains of Montana. Without their support, I couldn’t do this, the Signal Fire would not exist. Thank you feels too small. If you’d like to help keep this place alive, just click the button below. It is vital, truly, if you love it here.
Is today’s poem entirely about just a tree? No. It’s about us, it’s about how cruel I think we are to ourselves in this world, in this life, and what could happen if we put this down, if we treated ourselves with the love we reserve for others.
How big could we grow? How giant, and what music our trembling would make.
We chop ourselves down, we second guess, we feel our esteem drop and feel some strange comparison to a million someones we will never once meet. We feel imposter syndrome for things we have spent hours and hours and hours getting really damn good at. For no reason we feel this. We do not tell ourselves to grow tall, we tell ourselves to take up less space, to fit into the places we’re told we should fit, to dull our own shine lest it hurt someone else’s eyes.
We sing to others, to soothe them, to calm their stormy souls, but to ourselves? We are silent, or when we do find words to offer they are those of judgement and frustration altogether too often. DO BETTER, BE BETTER, STOP IT STOP IT we say again and again, our secret inside voice to our secret inside self.
Why? Why do we do this?
I stand surrounded by aspens in Montana quite often, I hear the rustle of their leaves, the quaking when the wind picks up, and I wonder what they say to their other trees. More, however, I wonder what they say to themselves. I wonder what message is carried down its trunk, down beneath the dark soft soil, down to the roots that spread and then rise again to find new shoots in new spots, new stems becoming new trees with new branches that all seek the light.
I imagine it’s kind words, I imagine it’s love.
Only we are so cruel to ourselves, only we judge so fiercely.
What would happen if we stopped? What if we, to ourselves, to others, to all others that we share this place with, offered up kindness, offered up love?
What if we decided we are one part of one giant creature, this human race, and deserve compassion, deserve grace? Could we name ourselves Pando too, could we be one part of one thing?
Could we too, sing to ourself?
Here, for all you who like it, is the spoken word recording in my voice, how I heard it in my head when I wrote it that day. I hope you dig it.
I love you all. Be good.
Psssstttt…this poem is from this new book, coming soon!!!!
Every single pre-order is a chance to get this sucker to best-seller status. To show the world words like these matter, that POETRY matters. I’d love you to hold this in your hands. P.S. If you know any BookTok people, pleeeeeease get them to look at this hahaha.
Is your morning wake up routine on autopilot? Do you do the same things mostly without thinking until the coffee’s caffeine kicks in? Do clocks not tick, nor the rest of the world exist until you can shower that sleeping dust out of your eyes? After reading today’s fine verse from Tyler exploring trees and their communication, community, and care, I am left wondering “what do trees sing every morning as the sun comes up?” I know the question is a bit pedantic, but not trivial to a tree, and the revelations could be mind blowing, yes? If your one mission in life is to grow or die, under the light of the sky, sharing space with so much family by your side… wouldn’t each dawn be a big thing to witness? A big broadway production coda played out every day in a language most of us never notice or hear. At least not until Tyler clued us in on the cypher ( an algorithm, for decrypting unknown languages) of this poem. Now my thoughts on this will percolate a little stronger than a second cup of joe (or tea). And, of course , what next could we look forward to from our stand of trees? Perhaps that closing crescendo of a symphony’s finale that climaxes from trees at every sunset! I’ll put the blanket and the popcorn by the door so they are ready to go later!
Oh my, if only, if only we could share community the way the aspens do...could we one day live with out regret??? How often do we stand alone because of our actions, words, judgements ..... when in reality we become the one who is judged.... I have always sung to myself.... this is not to say "I never judge"..... I never speak ill of others..... I need to become an aspen and work to make my world a better place.... stronger in my connections.... regret is an awful emotion.... it pulls at your conscience resulting often in guilt..... My heart sings when I hike, the time alone with my thoughts bring me clarity and sometimes peace....Therefore I guess I will simply "Hike" through life! Great one today Ty!!