Last week at dVerse we were invited to write a 144 word prose piece based on a line from a Jane Kenyon poem. But I was also struck by the title of said poem – Taking Down The Tree – and I have used that for a further 144 word prose piece.
Photo: saytrees.org
“Trees are the earth’s endless effort to speak to the listening heaven.” Rabindranath Tagore
They Are Taking Down The Tree
The city workers come with steel teeth to eat our tree. It’s only mid-morn, and yet a darkness pervades the space before us, just as it must have done for anyone attending a public execution in the past. Powerless, we voice our dismay, but shields, batons and spray are on hand to hold our anger at bay. No presumption of innocence, no defence asked, guilty as charged! We’ve decided, says the Suit, policy obscure, too much mess, inconvenience, it’s old, it must go. And the workers laconically quote Nuremberg while wiping their hands. Powerless we watch as the teeth awaken with a roar, eager to chew and tear. They are taking down the tree. Piece by piece, a clinical kill. And as the final cut is made, I’m powerless, rasping, struggling to breathe. They’ve cut my lungs across the street, across this darkening world.
©Paul Vincent Cannon
Paul, pvcann.com
parallax 
This is a wonderful write! I really like the way you have woven public excutions and trees along with Nuremberg … it is old, it must go!
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Yes, the old order must go, it’s killing everything. Thank you so much Dwight.
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I know the feeling!
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🙂
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Ahhh this is heartbreaking Paul..
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Yes, it really is Mich, horrible. Thank you for empathising.
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The powerlessness! Bylaws have changed here – it is much harder to cut down trees without justification.
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I’m so glad to hear that. Yes, the powerlessness is awful.
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❤
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🙂
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Arbitrary seems to have a lot of future these days. I think it was Tocqueville who saw the emerging bureaucracy as a potential form of tyranny…
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He did indeed, sad not enough people listened to him.
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And yet, Tocqueville is THE book in any political science programme anywhere. (Is that a science?) 😉
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It was when I studied it 🙂
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You really had an interesting programme at the U. 🙂
I only read a few bits and pieces, didn’t study Political non-science, bought a 2 euros copy in Paris last years, reading it slowly. Great thinking.
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Powerful words to describe one of our main problems.
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Sad state of affairs Cheryl.
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Very heartbreaking, Paul! They stand still over centuries, and saw so many things. Now we kill them. Best wishes for a beautiful weekend! Michael
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Thank you Michael. You too.
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What a heartbreaking and profound piece!
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Thank you Kathy, it really is.
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We don’t need any more parking lots just ask Joni Mitchell when she is in that Big Yellow Taxi.
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Absolutely, nice reference, and yet her voice is not heard in power places.
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too many are executed for no reason .. great emotional plea!
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Very tragic, thanks Kate
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I’m particularly struck by this post because I live just a couple of counties over from where Jane Kenyon and her husband Donald Hall lived in New Hampshire. And every time I travel anywhere in this part of the state, I’m seeing great swathes of trees being destroyed to make room for car washes, storage units, and convenience stores that we don’t need. It’s HORRIBLE!!
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I wonder too, because it is the same here, but none of these businesses survive, so why build them? Just so mindless.
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“Mindless” is exactly the right word for it.
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Good question.
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When will we learn?
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Wow that is very very powerful – you must do more of this – as well as your other poems
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Thank you Lyn, well okay then 🙂
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Profound piece indeed, really interesting and nd thanks for sharing. Have a great day.
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Thank you for sharing those encouraging thoughts, much appreciated. You have a great day too.
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This post broke my heart. I live in a subdivision that preserved many of the trees when it was built. Now the trees are old and tall and stately. There’s a little patch of woods outside my writing window. New neighbors moved in and decided to ‘clear out’ the trees on their new property. I could understand cutting the ones close to the house as they could do damage if they fell. But they went on to cut the ones in the wooded area far from their house. I cried all day hearing those saws. How can someone cut down a healthy tree?
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Yes, that is sad, criminal, no thought to life in general. And I worry that beauty is now mostly about built environment for many.
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Brilliant!
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Thank you so much for the wonderful compliment.
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You’re welcome!
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