The Never Dead - by Fr Gary Ward Johnson

Not useful for building houses or furniture,
In Jamaica
the wood of the tree they call Never Dead,
Is used to build caskets
Or, it seems, nothing at all.
In a land of tropical storms, fierce hurricanes,
And a people of great mystery
the Never Dead Tree gets its name,
they tell me,
because, even after damaged in high winds
or toppled over in a hurricane
it grows back.

I first noticed the Never Dead
Growing in the distance
amongst the other trees in the jungle,
just behind our house.
In the Jamaican Winter months
It sprouts red flowers…
revealing even more, and with style
Its “never dying ” ability.

Intriguing,
To think about, really
a tree,
not useful for very much
considered too weak, and perhaps rightly so,
to build things that we want to last.
Proving in its’ resilience-
the power of softness.
In the face of some of the most powerful forces in the world.
In spite of the tribulation, it lives
it last…
with style.

Jamaicans smartly use
The soft wood of the Never Dead Tree
To hold the dead bodies of their loved ones.
I think they might
Be making a point…
Or two.