The Little Locust Tree at My Doorstep

Sept. 5, 2025, 2:29 a.m. Essays

The little locust tree at my doorstep

One meter's heart/Wen

(Early writings, bring it out to see it)

It has been that little locust tree since I was a child, according to my mother, that locust tree was older than my brother, let alone me. I don’t know why I always think of it now. I don’t know if it’s still there. It was said before that it hindered things and wanted to knock it down.

This tree is very strange, with bumps all over its body, without a flat place.

However, every year it counts its branches and leaves, covering the sky. So, every summer, under its green canopy, this group of primary school students would take shelter from the sun and cool off. What was most loved was that the locust flowers bloomed densely, one on top of the other, when viewed from afar, they looked like the purest white snow. The fragrant and sweet locust flowers not only confused a group of hardworking bees, but also made the primary school students’ mouths water. As a result, everyone disregarded its bumps and thorns and rushed to it one after another to enjoy a taste of locust flowers.

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When I was a child, there were several times when my father asked to deal with it. Because it was upright, just beside my house’s door. You say closer is closer, but it didn’t take the initiative to spread out. My father was inconvenient when transporting carts. But my mother always disagreed. My mother seemed to say that this tree could bring me good luck, perhaps it was a good tree.

I now don’t know what such a saying is. Maybe because of my mother’s statement, I have a special emotion for that little tree since I was a child, not just because of its fragrant and delicious locust flowers!

However, from then on, my circumstances changed. Maybe everyone was busy, and few people came to chat under the tree anymore, except when my father came home to farm. Later, my father settled down to live at home, which was when I was almost finishing elementary school. I don’t know what changes have happened in the outside world. But in my memory, the locust tree didn’t change much, didn’t grow taller, didn’t die, it was just as it was.

The little locust tree is small, but its vitality is surprisingly strong. It has always had abundant branches and leaves, rarely with diseases. My other big trees are different.

When my house rebuilt, there were several trees in the yard that were taller and thicker than it, all of them fell down. Only the locust tree stood still as before, leaning towards my house. I think it was because it was small, and it was also ‘out of shape’, which didn’t have much practical use and didn’t have much impact on my yard. Besides, my mother favored it. Sometimes when people talked about this tree, my father insisted on his opinion, but my mother still disagreed.

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I don’t know which time, my mother looked at the TV and continued to advocate for that little locust tree, and the news about ‘tree sculpture art’ was being broadcast on TV. My mother said that it could sell for a good price and leave it. Now I think my mother was trying to justify her statement about leaving that little tree, because the locust tree interfered with the cart’s transportation. She said ‘she was freeing herself from her own words’. It’s not an exaggeration, if she wanted to sell it, she should have sold it earlier. I remember that there were many merchants who went around collecting timber at that time. My parents liked to cultivate flowers and trees. When I was a child, there were many varieties of flowers and trees in my house, but I don’t remember the specific names now. They were all red, yellow, purple, blue, etc. But now there aren’t so many.

Last year, the locust tree was still there. I don’t know when I return home again, will it still stand there, waving at me?

It’s hard to tell why I suddenly missed the locust tree at my doorstep. Things in this world are often like this, and people’s relationships are also like this. There’s a hidden thing that’s pulling on our hearts. No matter how far away we are or what kind of relationship we have, we will eventually meet in the vast sea of consciousness. Because there’s a hidden similarity that connects us.