a brutal cut
left wounded and bleeding
blood red life-blood flows and congeals
no one knows his name
his arm lost in the name of progress
making way for city expansion
Did he cry in pain?
ancient in wisdom
he stands tall
growing stronger every day
a brutal cut
wounded and weeping
tears flow and dry on her face
no one knows her name
her dream ruthlessly brushed off
it didn't matter to them
She fell. She cried.
drawing on hope from deep within
she stands tall
growing stronger every day
A note on the tree in the first stanza:
The tree I saw walking through the neighbourhood is a tipuana. When cut, its sap is a blood red. It's not hard to think of the pain of the cut when seeing that 'blood'. This tree is a majestic example of how man and nature integrates. It's limbs had been cut to make way for overhead wires. The tree itself was so old, I couldn't put my arms around its base. It was covered in tree orchid foliage. Thanks to Jurgis for finally identifying the tree for me. No one around the tree, including the gardeners, knew what tree it was; thus my comment on no one knowing his name. Some day, I'll go back there with the camera. There are so few photos of this tree online.
Some photos I found:
To get the full effect (this image is huge, albeit somewhat fuzzy) - http://bit.ly/c8b0mf You can see the tree orchid on the bark in this photo.
I hope you do go back and get some photos Tint. Your writing has such depth and emotion...as do the photos here.
ReplyDeletea wonderfully evocative piece of writing Tint..and wow..I have never heard of these trees, very interesting!
ReplyDeleteI loved to read this. Very beautiful!
ReplyDeleteOh wow I have never seen anything like that , You are a good writer the words flow with such feeling
ReplyDeleteDid anyone else notice that the first photo looks like a woman? At first I thought it was a digitally altered photo or painting because I could so clearly see a woman in it... Then I realised it was just a photo *sigh* lol
ReplyDeleteBeautiful writing, ma, as always.... So sad, but there's also hope there....
like a dancer, eh?
ReplyDeleteI thought it was too Tat!
ReplyDeleteI did, too, Tat...and Tint....beautifully sad. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone : ) I was just totally fascinated by that tree. The photo up at the top? It seems to me to be a trained bonzai. I saw the dancer in it too. She seems to be celebrating. I liked that.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful.
ReplyDeleteoh, I can see a dancer there too. Fascinating. On the other hand, I'm rather glad that these trees do not grow in Lithuania. Otherwise it would be just too sad to see 'em cut :( Or maybe bleeding trees should grow just everywhere, maybe then some people would think twice before cutting them down, just because wood is such a big business worldwide
ReplyDeleteI saw the dancer, too, and wondered if the tree was trained to grow that way. Wow, a tree that "bleeds". That's eerie. Certainly would make one think twice about cutting down more than was needed. Beautiful poems!
ReplyDeleteAsta, I wish people would think twice before cutting anyway. It is sad seeing the 'weeping' tree.
ReplyDeleteFaye, I think the tree was trained that way. And thanks : )
The trees are gorgeous, and eerie. And I like the thought of growing stronger every day. :)
ReplyDeleteI plan to take a photo of the tree that inspired this post as soon as my new phone arrives. Growing stronger every day in spite of life's 'pruning' makes it worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteSo awesome. It's gonna be like a whole new Tint era with this phone! :D
ReplyDeleteMore a case of 'back to the old era' when I had regular photos to post. Though this time, I'll be able to sneak photos =)
ReplyDeletehehe. All those people who do wrong on the buses will now be immortalized in your sneaky photo blogs. ;)
ReplyDeleteHa! Now there's a thought that makes me look forward to the week! hahaha!
ReplyDeleteAs I was doing ART VOCABULARY terms with Eric tonight i came across these two basics: TINT: to add white to a color to make it lighter. I thought of you because you so very often make my day lighter, make me smile.
ReplyDeleteI remember that photo from an earlier post..the tree dancer...seems so long ago.
ReplyDeleteYou could be describing yourself and many of us in the lines of this poem.