Backyard Birches

By David Pearce

This is the beautiful stand of birches in my back yard in Maine. It reminds me of Robert Frost's poem describing how, if you climb a birch tree and jump from near the top, swinging your legs out and hanging onto the crest of the tree, it would bend over, and set you down on the ground without breaking. The poem ends with the famous line, "One could do worse than be a swinger of birches." This is something kids in Maine, where I grew up, used to do. I never did, I am very sorry to say, but I know at least one of my brothers -- less cautious than I -- did, and he cherishes the memory. Read the whole poem at: "https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44260/birches