The Listening Tree

There once was a time I would wander the bush

And camp in the woods every night,

Watching the birds and the wildlife there

Was the thing that would give me delight.

I’d walk it with Jill or I’d go it alone,

It made little difference to me,

But out in the depths of the forest I found

A very unusual tree!

 

It wasn’t a gum or a stringy bark,

A cedar, an ash or a beech,

None of the common varieties

And neither a plum nor a peach,

The leaves were like arrows of silvery grey

Aligned, with each face to the sun,

And every so often they’d chatter, it seemed

Like the rapid rat-tat from a gun.

 

I’d never seen anything like it before

So I stopped, and I walked it around,

The pods full of seeds were still ripening there,

And fell, spilling seeds on the ground.

Then birds would come, feed in a frenzy and fly

Their bellies swelled out with the seed,

I wondered if nature had chosen this way

To propagate more of these trees?

 

I gathered some up and I took them on home,

And planted some back on the block,

I marked with a stake and I covered with loam,

Sat back to see how long it took.

I couldn’t believe it, the following day

They had sprouted up more than a yard,

A week, they had towered right over my head

And I felt I should be on my guard!

 

There’s something not right with a species that grows

From a seed to a tree in a week,

When Jill came around and she saw what I’d found

She just stood there, unable to speak.

The silver leaves chattered each time she approached

With a menace I’d not heard before,

A leaf seemed to fly at her, cutting her cheek,

And she wiped the blood off, and she swore!

 

‘There’s something rank evil in that silver tree,

Can’t you see how it’s twisting around,

Those leaves are like arrows, and sharp as can be,

You should yank the thing out of the ground.’

The leaves started chattering madly at that,

And something was chattering back,

Another tree, just like the one I had grown,

Had sprouted, along on the track.

 

I called a Professor Biologist in,

Professor John Ward, M.Sc.

He wandered around it and furrowed his brow,

‘It’s nothing like I’ve ever seen!’

The leaves started chattering, soon as he spoke,

Then fired off a host of its leaves,

They struck the Professor, bringing him down,

Unable to get off his knees.

 

We called in the firemen, called in the police,

They burnt that young tree to the ground,

But then in the air was a chattering, chattering,

Louder and louder, that sound!

And suddenly, every direction we looked

There were trees with those silvery leaves,

Surrounding our houses and lining our streets

Like a plague, or some dreadful disease.

 

We hide in our houses and whisper our needs,

For trees have grown up by each door,

A shower of arrows are loosed when we speak

So we crawl on our knees, on the floor,

They say that the army is coming to town

With bazookas, flamethrowers and such,

But while all these trees are listening, listening,

Better we don’t say too much!

 

We put on the radio, turn it down low

And we listen to news on the hour,

All that they talk of are alien trees

That came down with a meteorite shower.

They’re radioactive, and that’s why they grow,

So quickly, and glow in the night,

I should have known better, but who could foresee

There were trees that could listen, and fight?

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[patricia]

The flow has always makes me so happy. The tree reminds me i am small, that we reap what we sow, that our truth is not the only truth. Maybe it is the tree of knowledge we are afraid of, reality can hurt us like a slap from a branch sometimes. Love it, love it, love it.

[roarke]

Well at least ya didn't pay for 'em like that kid with the magic beans.....

I knew when ya picked them seeds up off'n the ground there was a gonna be trouble.

I actually thought the description of the tree sounded quite lovely. You Australians have such novel flora and fauna down under.....

You and I would have a heck of a time out on bivouac.....

[Marie]

I remember reading "Day of the Triffids," though I didn't see the movie. As always, peopel get too curious...

[quinfinn]

well David, i may be telling my age here, but...i was instantly reminded of a movie i saw a long time ago called "the day of the triffids" . i think it was based on a book by robert a. heinlein...the science fiction writer. this would make an excellent sci fi/horror story...perhaps you should approach hollywood with this idea? i loved this write. anything that reminds me of an impactful memory is great, in my book!

[J Todd Underhill]

Another fine piece of spoke word art in the making! Wellm written my friend!