Saturday, January 18, 2014

ONE TREE/ALL TREES



Front of the tree


Back of the tree


"I'm sorry," I cried.
Workmen focused on their job,
not on the pain they caused
chopping their way to accomplishment.
And me, never thought about you
until I saw the brokenness that remained.
I can't decide which is worse
to be
ignorant or mindless.

"It's the way, today."
You comfort me with resignation.
Victims do that.
But you're something else -
teacher, survivor, observer,
warrior waging battle,
you fight
with creative non-violent resistance
even against the me's of good intentions.
You know destruction is tricky.

Do you know too, (I hope)
how your fight could end in
win/win?


Green is born.

(Submitted to Dverse Poets.)

Before I moved into the little town house, I hired painters.  In order to paint the front of the house, they demolished the back of the tree.  I had never thought about how they would paint with such a large tree interfering with their space.  When I saw what they had done, I was devastated. Luckily trees forgive. Many of the broken limbs are turning green.

21 comments:

  1. They didn't prune it, but rather whacked it. If they had pruned it, the trunks would have been cut off almost flush, and that would have caused less risk and trauma. Anyway, it's a survivor, and I'm glad it appears to have come through its ordeal and prospered once again.

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  2. luckily nature is resilient...seems they should have asked before destroying the tree...i like the nod as well to nonviolent resistence as well....perhaps something we could all learn there as well...smiles.

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  3. Very good poem about survival and resistance, Myrna! "I can't decide which is worse
    to be / ignorant or mindless." - I guess I can't decide either.

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  4. I see this done all the time... Chopping down trees without respect... Fortunately trees are resilient... They are tougher than humans fortunately

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  5. fortunately for us, for the ecosystem, trees are resilient survivors...but as Grace's poem shows us they can be fragile also and need to be cared for.

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  6. yes...trees forgive and their will to live doesn't break easily.. hey...that's something we can learn from them... glad he's sprouting again..

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  7. I hate it when they come and "trim" trees away from power lines, too.

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  8. Well I am glad to see the green sprouting again ~ Trees are resilient survivors ~

    Here they are strict with cutting down trees as the neighbors would complain ~

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  9. How very sad, Myrna; but it does seem that trees can rebound. If only human beings were as resilient as trees.

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  10. I SO KNOW!!!!!! My yard sprung a leak, a couple of years back, and the District needed to bulldoze and dig down under the bush I had lovingly grown from a sprout to a huge happy bush - the supervisor was just telling me he thought they'd be able to do it without destroying my bush when WHOMP the jaws of the dozer bit down and removed fully half my tree. OMG. However, as you say, it recovered and grew back and is a happy fat bush once again. I'm still mad at them though for the pain they caused her. So unthinkingly, as if she didnt feel the bite.

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  11. "Broken limbs turning green"

    Great image!!!!

    ALOHA from Honolulu
    Comfort Spiral
    > < } } ( ° >

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  12. I am so glad that the tree survived. I too would have been devastated. And am still hurting at the damage a plumber did to not one but two of my gardens.

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  13. ...it's relieving to know your trees survived... what a devastated feel it must've been to see a wonderful thing being slaughtered... the painters should've asked permission first... smiles...

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  14. some don't care, but thank goodness trees are not as easy to kill, as in your case...well written Myrna

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  15. Happily, nature can withstand our brutality! Lovely write.

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  16. Nature is durable! Nice blog following!!!!

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  17. a lesson, perhaps, that resilience ~

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  18. It's such a beautiful poem. Nature is wise. Wiser than we are actually.

    Greetings from London.

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  19. taking down a tree is a big deal. i would be devastated. ignorance or mindless is fabulous distinction i already find myself thinking on.

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  20. I would think they'd explain what they intended to do, first, wouldn't you? Before they did it?? I would be so sad, too. I just love trees.

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