Roots

(honey fungus is a b*****d killer)

in the aftermath of a restless night

i a late riser was disturbed

not by a shaft of sunlight

streaming through a rain splattered

window pane in my sloping roof

nor by the sub song of a blackbird

singing to himself nearby

i sleepy eyed was wakened suddenly

by sounds of a tree surgeon's loud

chainsaw with its sharp cutting teeth

working through limbs of a walnut tree

from a platform of hydraulic horror

i watched its agony as its wood

was systematically carved apart

while the heart of me was felled

a final farewell where once stood

fruit bearing twin majestic friends

my eyes watered as i witnessed

an end of what used to be

a sad demise of a tree on

the outer boundaries of my garden

pardon me for my sentimentality

left grieving for elders

whose backbone and leafy green

for forty years has watched

faithfully and overseen

yes overseen my roots and

the growth of me

 

Reviews

[barleygirl]

I hear ya! My mom married a guy & moved into his house, then promptly cut down all the big beautiful trees in a climate where shade makes all the difference in summer! I was aghast! I never criticized her, because that is not my way, but I felt it was an abomination for her to do that to a piece of property this guy had owned for 50 years! Oh well! He adored her & had no ill feelings! The best poems, like yours, conjure such vivid scenes in the readers minds & hearts (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Chris Shaw]

Thanks Margie for sharing. To cut living trees down is a no no in my opinion, unless they are dangerous. The walnut trees had died as a result of disease, so it was easier to see them go. Like losing old friends though. And the loss of walnuts, oh yes will miss them muchly. Always appreciate your thoughts on my ramblings.

Chris

[Stella Armour]

A similar feeling hit me when a beautiful weeping willow was stripped of its branches ready for felling, so many people complained that in the end it was just left and bless it, over a couple of years it did try to repair itself ;then one day i noticed it was gone ... so sad as the street opposite had been named after it many years before.

[Chris Shaw]

Hello Stella, we all have our tree stories to tell. Willows are so beautiful, sad about your willow. I will miss the walnuts and there is open sky where this magnificent tree once stood for so many years. Nothing stands still. We all have to move on. It is freezing here today. A severe frost last night and I have just turned the heating back on. Keep warm and thank you for your visit.

Chris.

[Lorry]

AAAARRGH!... Is, i admit, a rather peculiar way to start a review, but this reminded me so much of the scaries thing my eight year old mind ever saw.
It was a pre-watershed sunday evening in deepest 1970's Scotland, when a tales of the unexpected episode came on tv and warped my fragile little mind.
It was about a tree surgeon who could here trees and plants scream when they were cut and it drove him insane.
The him in question, was the actor who would later infuriate us further along the line, with his portrayal of the smelly old Claude Greengrass in heartbeat (who ironically signalled the official end of the weekend, with its soundtrack signalling bath and school in the morning (( shouldve been that smelly git taking a bath))
Now, where was I? Oh yeah, have you ever noticed how the absence of a tree becomes an eyesore and messes with our head whenever we pass where it was?
I was seriously offended when i found out the owners of my childhood home cut down my childhood climbing tree, which i am told i fell from on many an ocassion, but i don't remember that, and at least there was no harm done... Brrr whirp tweee!
I should shut up now, my head be hurty. 😀

[Chris Shaw]

Claude Greengrass, yes I remember that character. What a great name. Not one you are likely to forget. Chainsaws give me nightmares too. I don't even have to see them, just hearing them is enough to send me in to meltdown. Must be something to do with the Texas chainsaw massacre. Never saw the film. I just imagined it, and my imagination didn't hold back. Uuuggghhhh. Hope your hurty head is feeling better Lorry. It's bloomin freezing here today. Many thanks for checking in.

Chris

Chris

[Lorry]

Still dreich up here Chris. The kind of grey sky that seems to leach all the colour out of the day and makes it look like the sky is mourning.
But apart from that, and the rain, and everything smelling damp, and a vicious paper cut on my pinkie finger, I'm surprisingly cheery 😀

[Chris Shaw]

Aw paper cuts on your pinkie. Kiss it better. They hurt like hell. What a great word leach. Love how you have used that. Don't want to send you green with envy but we have pure blue sky. Not a cloud in sight, but it is bitter. Pinkies will go numb today for sure. Put some glasses on that have a rosy hue. That will make you feel better. Pink is much warmer than grey.

[Lorry]

Youve never burnt your tongue on porridge, have you? 😀

[Chris Shaw]

Pink tongue gave you alot of pain.? You should have understood Goldilocks and the three bears much better. You have to consider carefully how you eat your porridge. Dive in and that's what you get. Edge carefully round the perimeters on tiptoe. You don't burn your tongue or your feet that way. That's the way to do it :)

[Lorry]

I know I'll probably get my Scottishness revoked for saying this, but porridge is disgusting and should be avoided at all costs.
But ignore me, cuisine isn't our forte 😀

[Chris Shaw]

You'll end up as haggis!! And you'll be stripped of yer kilt lol.

[Dave Brown]

The tree cutting scenario is changing.
I think in Vancouver, when one goes down, two must go back up.
I am assuming that tree was rotting and dangerous and if not, it is an environmental travesty.
I've had an old mature Alder at the end of my driveway growing for well over 50 years until it rotted from the inside out and we had to remove about half
It was a sad day
I'll bet they come back with a planting and if not you could lead a large group of sign waving protestors down to city hall and have the press expose the whole damnable affair
Chin up Gramma (?)

[Chris Shaw]

The walnut trees were killed by the spread of honey fungus. It's deadly. These two were in a close at the bottom of our garden. We have lost about five trees now as a result of it. The council won't replant there I shouldn't think. Once honey fungus is around, you can't get rid of it. It stays. You would have to dig out the soil and replavmce. Such a pity to see their demise. They must have been about 80 years old. Thanks Dave.

Chris

[Dave Brown]

Oh, right!
Even tho I did read walnut, It failed to register and you did tell me before about the honey fungus.
We planted some walnut a while back and I have been keeping a leery eye on them
Too bad, so sad

[Chris Shaw]

Beautiful trees walnuts. Great loss not having a supply in the autumn. Honey fungus is deadly.:((

[DIVYA]

I always wonder, what a tree feels when it’s cut down so mercilessly like that. Giving shade, sustenance to a myriad of life forms, enriching the air with their green breath and this is the sad return. Perhaps there was no way of salvaging it. Yet, in a way, that old tree had such a meaningful existence on earth. Superbly written and expressed, Chris!

[Chris Shaw]

The tree was already dead DIVYA. Killed by honey fungus so I like to think it felt nothing:)) In the interests of safety it had to be removed. Provided us with lots of lovely walnuts over the years and we still have a couple of saplings as a result of the activity of squirrels. Changed the outlook though. There is light where there was once leafy green. Always sad to lose trees. They have been there for so long. Many thanks for your thoughts and your visit.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i always think of this when i see very old trees...how much they have seen and heard...
the generations who come and go...but that tree which has seen everything, still sways in its own wind...
putting on the years through the tunnel of time.
j.

[Chris Shaw]

I like where you went with this Jacob. You share my views. I think of trees in the vicinity like sentinels standing guard. Keeping an eye on what's going on. See everything but tell nothing. That's why you can sit under a tree and share your most intimate secrets. You have no fear of them telling, and if they whisper no one will understand :))