Farewell To My Forest

I don't know where to start.

I found out they're cutting my forest down.

Half of the trees are already gone.

My path is tattered and torn. 

I revisited my beloved niche today

and now I am in tears.                                       

1

2

3 Bulldozers are sitting in the middle.

What am I to do?

The forest was my place. My home.

Where I could escape.

Where I could breathe again.

Where I ran.

Where I flew.

Where I cried

Where I buried a ghost.

Pondered life.

and wondered why I like to be alone.

The trees knew my name.

The wind loved my hair.

The soil loved my shoes.

The deer loved my company.

and the owls loved my friendly hoots.

The stream lapped up my feet on steamy, sticky summer afternoons.

When rampaging too fast, I fell into burning nettles.

The water healed my hands and red stinging skin.

My pain rushed away to god knows where.

Thrashing crashing smashing into the bay.

and with all my secrets the little waves moved my heart.

A piece of me is being taken away.

Why must everything I love be taken away?

 

Where am I to go now?

I am homeless.

Broken.

There's no where left to turn.

They're cutting down my forest.

The path will still be there for the hikers...

But the trees are on their way.

I have nothing left to say..

and no reason to stay.

I'm leaving.

Leaving and never looking back.

I'll never forget this day.

Reviews

[Writing Angel]

I see truth in your words it speaks of many real things in this world great job with imagery and portraying I love your work

[Terry O'Leary]

Forests are going down everywhere ...
Fracking is spreading, going deeper ...
Temperatures are rising ...
Waters are being poisoned ...
Profits are soaring ... or should I say "soring"
A splendid poem!!!

[Brad P]

I really felt your passion and pain in your words. Great imagery and prose. Thanks for sharing. Sorry I haven't been around for a while. Have a lot of stuff going on.

[Coyote Poetry]

I do understand this story. The great forest is gone near me.
"Where am I to go now?
I am homeless.
Broken.
There's no where left to turn.
They're cutting down my forest. "
Need to built houses and business steal the need for fresh air and great forest to enjoy. Thank you for sharing the poetry.
Coyote

[Elise Anton]

We often see the 'tree-huggers' here, people chaining themselves to trees as bulldozers, great hulks of diesel-spewing machinery wait. These people are portrayed as 'nutters' or 'hippies' in the news, 'bludgers' with no real work - trying to stop progress for altruistic self-promotion...

We never hear about you - the many others like you who face a most personal loss... Thanks Kathryn, your words bring home the real tragedy of losing our forests and our woods... I have watched the distant hills surrounding our city over the decades - developments creeping higher and higher until most of the green is gone.

The greed machine takes in green and spawns out 'housing estates' or 'industrial parks', a term I have never understood. Massive warehouses studded with the odd clump of trees do not a park make. Nor do sprawling estates with a small lake in the middle to compensate and pretend there's still some 'nature' left...

I am sorry you faced this loss. I am glad though you found the voice to describe it. Great work.

[Nisreen]

Something about this earth we live in
while more of mother nature is being torn down
more savage human behavior happens to be

its sad

i liked reading this piece

[dan]

Kathryn, I am sorry for your loss. When I was about 12 they bulldozed a spot where I and so many Ingram (my small suburban hometown) kids used to hang out (we called it Ingram Desert); they flattened it out to build warehouses for big companies.
The imagery you employ in this write is sharp and clear. Your grief is palpable. The feelings conveyed are so vivid and clean. The photos brought the images and feelings out into the light.
This is one of your best writes, Kathryn! I'm saving it to my library favorites. Great work! take care...dan