Why do I?
Mist the Oak Tree by wabberjocky
For my old dog who loves his job herding deer from garden back to woods
For the deer, silent shadows moving between trunks at dusk, feeding on acorns
For the acorns that grow into sturdy oaks with roots like armor around the chuck-wills burrow
For the the branches that provide a jungle gym for energetic squirrels to climb toward the sky
For the sky that sends the rains back to the canopy of leaves and the shelter of oakwood
For the leaves that paint blue mountains in shades of gold and orange in the fall
Because the veil was torn from my eyes in those years the loggers came
Because the whine of logging saws at dawn drowned out the birds
Because day after day they ripped through hardwoods, whittling hundreds of acres down to fifteen
Because they cut, they ripped, they burned, they sent crop dusters spraying herbicides to insure the oak would not grow back
Because rain without the filtering watershed carries the poison into my well
Because replanting with pine means they can log more often, means hardwood forests disappear, means autumn disappears
Because the chuck-wills don’t sing here anymore
Modifying habits might modify their habits
Obedience to a conscience that insists I do something…anything
Those are the reasons I read E
What are yours?
This post was written in response to the Three Word Wednesday Prompt. Click that link and check out what other participants wrote.
I’m still celebrating Read an E-Book Week so all commenters are entered in the drawing to win a free e-library.
16 Comments
Tumblewords
I so dislike that practice. Most of the fell-ed trees are older than the fell-ers. And each occurrence creates a chain event. Darn. A lovely and wise piece.
Beth C.
Powerful poem. I rememeber loving the leaves change color in the fall. Not so much anymore. everything stays green around my town now.
Dee
There are so many reasons to mourn the loss of hardwood, the natural habitats, the beauty. People don't stop and think about furniture either. Because I'm married to a man who builds, I have an awareness for how the expense of hardwood has gone up. If you wish to create a piece of furniture out of anything but pine you will find it to be expensive and not all that easy to find. It's just another example of man's inability to see beyond next week.
Thomma Lyn
So beautiful and wise — it breaks my heart, the destruction of forests and habitats of creatures with whom we ought to be sharing the earth.
b
You expressed what I have felt so many times. What I saw as a beautiful old growth forest the logging industry saw as a field of grain ready to be mowed. And so they did! Very sad.
b
Dana
Interesting poem. I read E because they take up less storage space than real books.
char
It's sad how many woods are being destroyed and animals being displaced
Angel
Sad piece.
Christine
All that from those three little words? You never cease to amaze me.
Stan Ski
'Autumn disappears' – sad but true, and all for the sake of paper… which our teachers, back in the seventies, told us would be obsolete in ten years, due to advances in computer technology.
Julie Jordan Scott
Reminded me of a love letter and elegy all at once.
Patricia K
It is so sad that all the trees are getting torn down. We have to learn as shown from the Poem
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Just Someone
That was sad and beautiful all at once
Great piece
Andy Sewina
Phew, I wonder what happened to the chuck-bills?
thommyg
This was a joy to read, but painful, too. The way you write tells a tale and brings an ending that is all too familiar.
Oh, your linky isn't working on your comment at 3WW.
anthonynorth
Great words. It's always a tragedy when they strike with their saws.