What do we plant when we plant a tree?

What do we plant when we plant a tree? by Henry Abbey What do we get when we plant the tree? We plant the ship which will cross the sea; We plant the pencils to scribble our notes, We plant the ballots to cast our votes; We plant the paper in which we read, The news that o'er wooden poles we speed, We plant the piles to erect our docks; We plant the rayon for shirts and socks. What do we plant when we plant a tree? We plant the houses for you and me; We plant the rafters, the shingles, the floors, We plant the studding, the lath, the doors, The beams and siding, all the parts that be; We plant the house when we plant the tree, We plant the barrel, the box, the crate; In which to ship all sorts of freight. What do we plant when we plant a tree? A thousand things that we daily see, We plant the spire that out-towers the crag, We plant the staff for our country's flag; We plant the shade from the hot sun free, We plant all these when we plant the tree.