Deforestation

We analogize our families to trees

Growing and branching off of each other

But trees are cyclic

Sprouting, growing, blooming, and dying

Does that mean we will one day fall?

It starts at the trunk thick and sturdy

Then gets smaller at the finger tips

There are the children living on frail ends

Until some big wind rips through

Does that mean we will break off?

They cut up the trees for the power lines

Making room for the dangerous volts

The veins of civilization far more important

Does that mean we will be cut up?

 

When mother and father scream at each other

Is that really a storm threatening to blow us apart?

When we all grow away from each other

Are those really the elm branches outwardly contorting?

When father finally leaves, and leaves for good

Does it really leave an ugly stump where once he was part of us?

When there’s nothing left of us that can be identified as a family

Does the logger man come to seal the deal?

 

All trees will fall in time

Does that mean all families are meant to die?

Author's Note

I haven't written for a while.

Reviews

[Vishuddha]

Thoughtful and so many analogies beautifully incorporated. Makes me wonder about what families you write? Your family, or mine? The human family? The family of mammals? The family of warm blooded ones? Backboned ones? Breathing ones? The family of living things? Well, Yaagdrasil, the Tree of Life - who knows from whence it came and where it goes? Although it seems Death wins every battle at the same time Life grows and grows and grows. In the end, what do the details matter?
But, I digress. Your poem is personal and close to the heart and I like it a lot. Especially the stump when father leaves (it would have been so easy to go with leaves falling in the Fall and all that which is so obvious and overworked).
Nice to see you back again.