~ Trees... Here Today, and Tomorrow ? ~

i'm a tree-hugger & like to protest

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Trees of all sorts and colours, straight and bent

Covering grassland, and swaying with the breeze

Solitary and in clusters growing wild and free

Providing shade for the ground in the vicinity

Ground remains cooler and moister for the roots

Growing an abundance of flowers, nuts or fruits 

The trees thrive, quickly new saplings sprout out

Wild and free too, spreading more food trees about

Beetles and insects living under bark and in branches 

Trees are veritable foodstores for birds and all critters 

Trees provide welcome roosting and nesting places

Enabling bird & animal alliances, and nightime sleeps

Folks picnicking under the shady, cooling foliage

Children frolicking and playing games beneath

Open sky fun and clean air breathing, enjoyed by all

Koalas, nocturnal possums oblivious, resting above

Now viewed for building on this land…Oh what a prize! 

Property developers seeing many  $ $  with their eyes

   

Yes, Yes !! …However Council approval still needed to assess

Will that be difficult being a COMMUNITY PARK no less ?

No problems at all… we can Re-Zone and change  

Council says we’ll need lots of  $ $ $  in exchange 

Paperwork and dollars are completed and in place

Land clearing will be prompt, so no time to waste

 

Bulldozers roll in quickly and push over all trees

Possums, koalas, bird nestlings seen catapulted 

Becoming airborne, crushed below ‘dozers underneath

Kids wail… picnic and play where, below tree’d beneath? 

     

The building finishes quickly, folks buy without delay

No thought given what occupied this space in prior days

Moral Of This Poem : gather like-minded people together 

Petition, complain, or whatever, act now and do altogether

To shame Councils or Governments self-serving actions

Elections are coming, soon they will realize folks reaction

Don’t just sip your Latte’s, become useful before your end days, 

And do your part for trees, wildlife and the environment… always!

..................................................................................................by Carola Hume / 8th March 2019

Reviews

[Robert Trakofler]

(I should like to see some of your paintings by the way:) Nobody seems to ever think of these things until it is gone... you tickle the truth in this write... a poets job is to stir and speak and pray to the world! Hey world look and see what we could be and yes, even speak for the trees:)! love your thoughts in this one Carola

[Carola]

thank you robert, i'm a passionate greenie & was so incensed when our local council did just that to a community park with a lake.

[Carola]

re my paintings, i used to display them on a website called paintingsilove, after many years sadly the owner decided to close the site, so i now show only a few paintings/drawings on fineartamerica. however the site is not the same as the community we had on pil.

[Samuel Dickens]

I'll never understand those who don't realize the importance of protecting the environment. This reminds me of Joni Mitchell's "pave paradise and put up a parking lot." We laugh at the thought of someone sawing off the limb upon which they sit, but destroying the environment for the sake of "progress" amounts to the same thing. This also brings to mind, "Watership Down".

[Carola]

thanks for stopping by to read & comment.
yes land clearing makes me really angry. my thinking here is that developer has an overall plan of all the individual lots & the surrounding road, so why do they fell down EVERY tree ? they could leave any trees on the boundary of each lot so the area wouldn't look so damned naked! also i think tree felling/land clearing should be prohibited in springtime when there's nests in the trees.
i had to google 'watership down' hadn't heard of it before wasn't sure if it was a poem, book or movie.
cheerio carola

[Samuel Dickens]

As far as I know, there is one book and two movies. The newest movie has been running on Netflix and is very good. (In my opinion)

[NotUsinganymore]

Very nice poem about nature. We do need to care about nature more but I highly doubt people will act until it's too late.

[zainul]

This is a poem which covered all aspects of trees and human attitude towards them.
I am very convinced that the poet undertook long research on all aspects and placed the findings for doing justice to the trees and environment.
I declare my support to the poet for a better world with trees everywhere.

[Carola]

thanks for your review zainul.
actually no, i didn't do any research, i was really very annoyed when i heard on our local radio station, that a local park with an adjoining lake which had a lot of wild ducks & swans was going to be bulldozed for building re-development. i couldn't believe my ears !

[zainul]

Thank you Carola.I understand your situation.Kindly have a glance at my poem,"Forest Calls Me" at this link:
https://www.writerscafe.org/writing/zainul/1045096/
We have similar feelings about nature and environment.

[Carola]

will do zainul 👍

[zainul]

Thank you very much.

[Paul Bell]

Nothing better than greenery. Bloody suburban cities full of concrete and nothing else.
We've got kids here who have never been to the countryside, never seen the sea.
They say the Bazillion rain forest breathes for the world, yet they're cutting it down at an alarming rate.
Then they wonder how nature retaliates as she does.

[Carola]

i'm with you paul, i'm a greenie though i would never vote for any of the green parties, 'cos they're communists.
cutting the brazil rainforest for farms is just ludicrous. those dopey people in government either don't know or choose to ignore, that this stupid land clearing & burning off going to affect the rest of the earth because of the earth's latitudinal atmospheric air circulation. total morons !

[Coyote Poetry]

I love the trees and nature. Great forest in Michigan torn down for new homes when old land can be reused. hard to grasp. I am a tree-hugger. Wonderful words shared for our trees dear Carola.
Coyote

[Carola]

me too i'm a greenie. as i said in my poem everyone needs to complain, & continue to do so.

[Coyote Poetry]

I agree. Empty cities and expanding away from them.

[barleygirl]

You win the prize for most persuasive essay I've read this year! I love this & not just becuz I sympathize with the crusade to maintain habitat. I like your piece becuz it's so well written. You could persuade me that brushing my teeth with dog s**t was in the best interest of the planet. Really, in all seriousness, you use every tool in the shed to get your point across persuasively, but not overbearingly. Not preachy or self-righteous, which turns off those who distrust environmentalists. Great details in a compelling appeal to one's humanity (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Carola]

i laughed at your passionate analogy "You could persuade me that brushing my teeth with dog s**t was in the best interest of the planet." hahaha!! 😁 🤣 ... wonderfully descriptive & so funny.
anyway i'm pleased you thought it persuasive.

many of my poems are about living issues or injustices that annoy me greatly, 'cos im not a romantic i don't think i could write about that.

[barleygirl]

I once wrote a piece about how, around the San Francisco Bay where I grew up, there are many "tree" names among cities (Redwood City, Oakland) & yet the trees are all gone now. It's wall-to-wall manmade stuff!

[Chris Shaw]

Dear Carola, you give such a strong message in your poem as well as being so descriptive about trees and the wonderful benefits we get from them. It's happening everywhere sadly. The councils, government and developers have no conscience about the destruction of the environment. They have their own agendas and it is so terribly sad to see the effect that this has on the wildlife once the bulldozers have moved in. We can certainly petition and in a few cases, I know plans have been reversed, but my experience is, where there is a will there is a way and usually the environment doesn't come out on top. A thought provoking poem. All good wishes.

Chris

[Carola]

i know it's shocking. people need to keep protesting, 'cos sometimes you win. i sign around 5 online petitions almost every day for animal welfare & environmental issues & often post them on twitter & facebook. i leave the physical street protests to the younger generation.
anyway thank you christine for stopping by to read & comment. cheerio carola

[Richard🖌]

Goodness-ME, Carola! 🍂
This is the same sad song played worldwide, and without the protests from so many passionately outspoken "tree huggers", like You, it would be far worse. But, there cannot be enough "You's" to stem the destruction of the lives of trees at every construction site. Every day, I drive by lands that have been razed of all greenery in preparation of warehouses, home development, hotels, shopping centers … you name it … nothing can stop (so called) progress under the clandestine banner of the almighty buck.
It virtually kills the soul, doesn't it, Carola?
An excellent array of Free and Rhyming Couplets rendered by a skilled pen kept me in your firm grip first to final word.

Good stuff, Dear Poetess … big thank you hug for speaking your caring heart! ⁓ Richard 🍃


Psst! Here's one of mine I think you might find heartfelt favor with. : )
"The TREE" http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/RichardJ/1550785/

[Carola]

many thanks richard for your comment.
by the way, i read & commented on your 'the tree' poem which was as eloquent as i had expected.

i also read & commented on your blogs.

cheerio from 'unabashed greenie' carola

[Richard🖌]

It's a good thing you tell me these things, because the site doesn't always.
I'll have give your review and comments some thoughtful attention … I'm proud to be one of your fans. : )