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The Black Walnut Tree by Mary Oliver

            The poem "The Black Walnut Tree" by Mary Oliver addresses the issue of a personal struggle. The speaker (daughter) and her mother are debating whether they should sell their black walnut tree to pay off their mortgage. They realize that the tree will help them financially, but if they cut it down they will lose a part of their past that they cannot get back. The poem also emphasizes how important this tree is to the family. It also shows the difficult decision that the women had to make between selling their past and paying off their mortgage, or keeping their past and dealing with the problems that will hunt them in the present and the future.
             The poem talks about the walnut tree that belongs to a farm family. The daughter wants to cut it down and sell "the black walnut tree to the lumberman" so that the mortgage can be paid off. She is also afraid that at the end of the day, a storm will likely hit the tree, "churn down its dark boughs", and smash the house. The mother and the daughter start debating this issue. The daughter thinks that the leaves of the walnut tree are getting heavier every year and "the fruit harder to gather away", which is another reason why it needs to be sold to the lumberman. The mother agrees with her daughter, but argues that even if the leaves are getting heavier, there is something more valuable about this tree than money when she said: .
             "But something brighter than money .
             moves In our blood- an edge.
             sharp and quick as a trowel .
             that's want us to dig and sow." .
             The mother feel the need to plant, build and preserve that flowed in the blood of her ancestors. According to the mother, the walnut tree means something more valuable to her family than just an economic gain. It represents her heritage that used a tool that is "edge sharp" to dig the ground and plant seeds to form this magnificent tree. This is also apparent in the following line: .


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