Tangles & Tails: Tracey Kiff-Judson's Blog

The Banyan

Details
Written by: Tracey Kiff-Judson
Category: Blog

Happy Friday, and better yet, Happy POETRY Friday! Want to know more about Poetry Friday? Check out: What in the World is Poetry Friday.

We are lucky to have the talented photographer, author, and poet Marcie Flinchum Atkins hosting this week. Please visit her blog Marcie Flinchum Atkins for the latest on her book When Twilight Comes: The Animals and Plants That Bring Dawn and Dusk to Life.

Speaking of all things crepuscular, during a recent camping trip through the southeastern US, we stayed at a campground loaded with sprawling banyan trees. Each one brimmed with activity at twilight (and probably all day for that matter!). Being from the Northeast, I’ve never had the opportunity to explore these enthralling behemoths of the plant world.

The banyan, also sometimes referred to as a strangler fig, starts life by wrapping vines around another tree, eventually killing it. The banyan reaches out spaghetti-like whiskers and builds columns, layer after layer, expanding its limbs and trunk. When an arm grows too heavy, the Banyan builds its own crutch. When a limb dies, it feeds the insects.

The banyan specializes in architecture, especially columns and arches, but sometimes an elephant (can you spot one below?).

What lived within this banyan fascinated me as much as the tree itself. Home to things earthly and human-made, this tree housed peepers and creepers, hosted morning lizard meetups, collected trash, and coddled young palm trees (at least for the moment).

A symbol of both life and death, the banyan holds significance in many religions. Below is my reflection about the banyan's methods in the context of today's politics. Please excuse the focus on the darker aspects of this miracle of nature!

 

Regime

Strangling a sapling,
Banyan rises from death.

Desperate for more,
always more,
he reaches, grabs, chokes,
roots, builds, layers.

He busies himself
with expansion plans,
indifferent to the little ones
clinging to his limbs:
peepers,
creepers,
chameleons,
a sapling.

© Tracey Kiff-Judson 2026

43 comments

  • No need to excuse your focus, Tracey — well played! It's a terrific metaphor.
    And thanks for a fascinating post — I learned a lot about the banyan tree. 
  • I didn’t know a thing about this tree, so this post is eye opening! And your poem paints a grim picture, rising from death and indifferent to the little ones. I love the way metaphors tell us through emotion. Thanks, Karen!
  • Tracey, good for you. I think we should all be focusing on politics these dark days. Sadly, the dark side of the banyan seems like a good analogy for the regime in charge. Thanks for teaching us about the banyan. Your poem is spot on. 
  • Wow, Tracy, I know of banyan trees & a bit about the strangler name, but love that you taught us much more and you have pictures! What a fascinating experience, and then, you held it close to write a poem that shows a new banyan most familiar to us all! It is a poem like no other, I imagine, about this tree. Thanks! 
  • Woah....that poem has the perfect bite to it. I love your photos and contemplations on the banyan tree. I learned things, thank you! Now, I can imagine sitting under a giant banyan at twilight listening to all those little critters talking over the day's events. Sweet.
    No worries on the dark turn...it's true!
  • I was lost with fascination in your photos, Tracy! Thank you for all the information about the banyan and your perfectly played poem.
  • Thanks for sharing your info and pics of the banyon tree. Mother Nature is so fascinating. I learned so much and thought your metaphor was spot on. "indifferent to the little ones clinging to his limbs..." wow. 
  • Thanks for the fascinating info and photos about the banyan (all info new to me)! Enjoyed the timely poem, such a perfect metaphor for what is happening now. 
  • Ah Tracey you’ve given us a totally new view of the banyan tree. I didn’t know this dark streak it had of “strangling” off other trees, your second stanza describes it well! Wonderful pics too, thanks for all!
  • This is so timely, Tracey. A loved one recently spoke of a banyan tree from her youth, such a special tree to her that she'd like her ashes buried there. I'm tucking this poem away for the day that's coming. Thank you. xo
    • I can see why your friend would make that wish. I imagine her tree offers enough to study for an eternity! : )
  • Tracey, 
    I found your blog URL for the Progressive Poem. No need to respond. Thanks for signing up. This banyan tree is so fascinating and totally unfamiliar to me. Your poem is spot on about the “regime”. Ugh! 
  • Tracey, your photos help me understand an unknown tree to me. The way the tree maneuvers its life:He reaches, grabs, chokes, roots, builds, layers. He busies himself with expansion plans, indifferent to the little onesSuch familiarity to politics and politicians.
  • Brilliant title, and of course it is a "he." Timely.
    Thanks for the education! I've never made the acquaintance of a banyan tree!
  • The only Banyan I've ever gazed upon is the enormous one in Lahaina -- and I loved the support branches. It always seemed to know how to care for itself. Love this turn on that idea, though -hee hee!!
  • Oof, Tracey - well played, indeed. Thank you for this fulsome post about these magnificent trees.  I know them, but, like Michelle, didn't realized they started their lives by choking out another! 
  • Tracey,
    Banyans are fascinating, aren't they? We've seen them in Florida and in Hawaii - the famous one that weathered the fires in Lahaina in 2023. We were there in 2022, when we saw it for the third time in a decade. They are fascinating. And such is the circle of life, right?! Thanks for sharing your fascination.
  • I did not know that a banyan tree was the same as a strangler fig! My parents lived in Florida in retirement, and had many strangler figs in their neighborhood. Love the expansion plans!
    • I think strangler fig may be a looser term that applies to that family of plants, but sometimes the name is used interchangeably. I haven't heard the term "expansion plants" but that is an interesting concept! Now I want to learn more!

Leave your comment

In reply to Some User

Older Posts