prompt 27: ode to Joni Mitchell or “they paved paradise…”

“they paved paradise”

I always wondered what those trees,

with the metal grates around their trunks,

say to each other –

reaching for the sun

from concrete or asphalt

they must wonder where the rest of their families live –

“movin’ on up”

to the tops of high rises

where too many fallen leaves kill passers-by.

 

Can they hear the whispers of their family

in the wooded lots in suburbia,

where petitions,

written on paper,

saves trees –

the irony is not lost on them

(they are a clever lot).

 

I worry for them,

those Grandmother Cedars

and Grandfather Oaks,

living in these silent, concrete wastelands

where roots get revenge on water mains

and dandelions force themselves through cracks in concrete

to tell the urban dwellers

that beauty is possible where nothing seems to grow –

until you look for it.

 

(c) r.l.elke

5 thoughts on “prompt 27: ode to Joni Mitchell or “they paved paradise…”

  1. Now you have me wondering about trees communicating. Here in Atlanta they get their revenge by crashing down with regularity. I wonder if it’s like suicide squads, do they talk it over and decide who goes next and if they are aiming for the houses every time, but the way they lean sometimes saves us. Those of us who aren’t trees and live in the houses that is.

    1. Thank you! Those are really great questions. I believe they do decide. They hold court and compare households: who had watered them/cared for them with love and respect? Who has carved words of love (initials of lovers are ok) vs words of hate or stapled stupid garage sale signs to them.

      They talk…they always talk. 😉

  2. Thank you! Those are really great questions. I believe they do decide. They hold court and compare households: who had watered them/cared for them with love and respect? Who has carved words of love (initials of lovers are ok) vs words of hate or stapled stupid garage sale signs to them.

    They talk…they always talk. 😉

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