The Hollow Tree

The effect of a single tree can be massive.

The hollow branches that once were my veins tell a story that is difficult to recreate. A re-imagined tale that will be told too late. I once was a tree, whose leafs were vibrant with color. Green buds in the spring. Large leaves in the summer. Red fire in the fall, my leaves burst into flames. They burnt to a crisp and thus faded away. Winter was bare, but snow covered my branches. I sheltered those who were cold, and those who sought shelter.
That is how my life began. It was how it always went. I lived my life in cycles, nothing more, nothing less. But every single cell unit that god used to create me, that tiny seed that sprouted and finally thus grew me- vibrates with a fading passion. A passion that fades for those who once knew me.
I hadn't really lived long, only a few decades it seems. I was just in my prime. A full life ahead of me. I could always see the sun. I was reaching for the sky. One day I might have touched it- if I did not have to die.
It has been long since my life has been robbed. Ransacked of all the life that once was. The years I had known all left in the dust. I miss all the life I once sheltered with love. All the squirrels that once chattered have now scurried away. The birds have already flown. I don't know where they are going now. They don't have any other home.
I find myself looking at all that remains-tangled nests and broken eggs now clutter the ground. The little cocoons of hopeful butterflies have been crushed in the dirt. Their lives I'll never know now. Oh! What a shame, what a shame it is now...Why does it have to be so! Please, gentle person, be cautious if you come near. You must step carefully over all the broken hearts. The torment might never stop.
I guess no one was thinking about the lives they'd affect. I guess no one was thinking of the harm and the death....or perhaps it is true. Oh let it not be so....maybe they already knew of the trouble they'd expose. I am just a tree. Or perhaps I was one once... But I am still a life. I was one once...have I been murdered? Will justice prevail? Or will I be left- a corruption, a unread lesson that no one will tell.

Author's Note

Please tell me what you think. It's been a very long time since I've written anything new. Thank you for any reviews. I really appreciate it.

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

and as you get older there will be more broken eggs, more nests that have been knocked out of the tree...and your branches and leaves will age, either gracefully despite all the negatives...or will shrivel up before turning red or gold...

but your own body and heart are your home...and you only get to live within them...and if you are that tree...make the best of what your roots give you. And grow as strong as you can.

[Misty.C]

What a wonderful review. :) I agree with you. Thank you so much for taking your time to read my work. ^_^