Someone in a Tree

Pardon me, I was there

You were where?

At the treaty house

At the treaty house?

There was a tree

Which was where?

Very near

Over here?

Maybe over there

But there were trees then, everywhere

May I show you?

If you please

There were trees

Then, everywhere

But you were there

And I was there!

Let me show you

If you please

I was younger then…

I was good at climbing trees…

I was younger then…

I saw everything!…

I was hidden all the time…

It was easier to climb…

I was younger then…

I saw everything!…

Where they came and where they went...

I was part of the event

I was someone in a tree!

I was younger then...

Tell him what I see!

I am in a tree

I am ten

I am in a tree

I was younger then

In between the eaves I can see—

Tell me what I see

I was only ten

I see men and matting

Some are old, some chatting

If it happened, I was there!

I see everything!

I saw everything!

I was someone in a tree

Tell him what I see!

Some of them have gold on their coats

One of them has gold—

He was younger then

Someone crawls around passing notes—

Someone very old—

He was only ten

And there's someone in a tree—

—Or the day is incomplete

Without someone in a tree

Nothing happened here

I am hiding in a tree

I'm a fragment of the day

If I weren't, who's to say

Things would happen here the way

That they happened here?

I was there then

It's the pebble, not the stream

It's the fragment, not the day

I am here still

It's the ripple, not the sea

Not the building but the beam

Not the garden but the stone

Not the treaty house

Someone in a tree

Pardon me, I am here

If you please, I am also here—

They kept drinking cups of tea

They kept sitting on the floor

They drank many cups of tea—

No, we told him that before

If you please, I am here

You are where?

In the treaty house

In the treaty house?

Or very near

Can you hear?

I'm below

So I notice

Underneath the floor

And so I can't see anything

I can hear them

But I can't see anything

But you can hear?

But I can hear

Shall I listen?

If you please

I can hear them now…

I shall try to shift my knees…

I can hear them now…

I hear everything…

I'm the part that's underneath

With my sword inside my sheath

I can hear them now...

One is over me...

If they knock, then I appear!

I'm a part of what I hear

I'm the fragment underneath

I can hear them now!

Tell us what you hear!

First I hear a creak and a thump

Now I hear a clink

Then they talk a bit...

Many times they shout when they speak

Other times they think

Or they argue it...

I hear floorboards groaning...

Angry growls... Much droning...

Since I hear them, they are there

As they argue it

I'm the listener underneath

Someone reads a list

From a box

Someone talks of laws

Then they fan a bit

Someone bangs a fist

Someone knocks

Now there was a pause

Then they argue it:

"But we want..."

"No, you can't

And we won't..."

"But we need it

And we want..."

"Will you grant —"

"If you don't..."

"We concede it..."

And they sat through the night

And they lit yellow tapers

I can hear them

I'm a fragment of the day

And they chat

And they fight

And they sit signing papers

I am there still

I was there then

If I weren't, who's to say

Things would happen here the way

If I weren't, who's to say

That they're happening?

It's the fragment, not the day

It's the pebble, not the stream

It's the ripple, not the sea

That is happening

Not the building but the beam

Not the garden but the stone

Only cups of tea

And history

And someone in a tree!