It takes much time to kill a tree,
Not a simple jab of a knife
Will do it.
It has grown
Slowly consuming the earth,
Rising out from it, feeding
Upon its crust, absorbing
Years of sunlight, air, water,
And out of its leprous hide
Sprouting leaves.
So hack and chop
Not so much pain will do it.
The bleeding bark will heal
And from close to the ground
Will rise curled green twigs,
Miniature boughs
Which if unchecked will expand again
To former size.
No,
The root is to be pulled out
Out of its anchoring earth;
It is to be roped, tied.
And pulled out-snapped earth;
Or pulled out entirely,
Out from the earth-cave,
And the strenght of the tree exposed,
The souce, white and wet,
The most sensitive, hidden
For years inside the earth.
Then the matter
Of scorching and choking
In sun and air,
Browing, hardning,
Twisting, withering,
And then it is done.
-By GIEVE PATEL
