Treebirth

By Cliff Lake

 

Treebirth

 

Some time ago in a golden land,

Some came to power by heavy hand,

And spoke against lessons long told,

As fables made by feeble old.

 

They worshipped gold, they worshipped greed,

They hoarded all, created need.

They made rulebooks as sacred sign,

And called themselves the true divine.

 

They hid new knowledge behind old fear,

They moved progress back every year.

Until life for most was stark,

Until life for most was dark.

 

Then their cities reached up on high,

Their towers reached beyond the eye.

And fields of green were no longer grown,

But roads and lots instead were sown.

 

Then the land was full of towers,

Growing in place of lowly flowers.

And only some could see the sky,

Only those raised up on high.

 

But those below, they made complain,

It seemed they would throw off their chain.

But those on high said, “Don’t you see?

The sky is hid behind the trees.”

 

They cut the trees to see the sky,

The sky was brown, they wondered why.

So, they burned the trees as sacrifice,

And slowly choked in their black twilight.

 

All that happened long ago,

The trees grew back, I guess you know.

But now the cities regrow anew,

And I watch the skies, while they’re still blue.

 

Cliff Lake 11/8/2024

Copyright © Clifford Lake 2024

Location: Wichita, KS, USA

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