Death of a Tree
The saw cut true
The high back cut
And purring sounds
Abound around
The axe hit hard
The sound was crisp
An echo rang back
With a hardened crack
Again and again
The strike was deep
The chips flew high
And the scarf was nigh
The blows were hard
The wood wound back
But the handle clasped
Each with a gasp
A creak was heard
The blow was quick
A creak again
An upward strain
Which way to fall
Not yet we tell
But soon a tremor in the stem
Has all say their last Amen
A path was cut
Through the air
The green leaves waved
And a shadow heaved
The crash came soon
With crushing blow
Death was swift
And none could lift
As one life ends
Others begin
Nature is cruel
Yet never unkind
Gordon MacAulay
1 November 2010
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3 comments:
Hi Gordon - the short lines and verses have a sort of hard-breathing quality to them. I am in the shoes of the lumberjack as I read this. Each line evokes a stroke of the ax.
I like the rhythm and (almost) rhyme.
I wonder where this idea came from!!?!
Hi Gordon, I enjoyed this too. Something a bit different. I wasn;t sure about the last para because it seemed to me this was not about nature being cruel but rather man's interference with nature. Or did I miss the point? I had a vision of a very muscular man, singlet on, muscles rippling as he swung the axe beaded with sweat.
Kerry says:
This is very crisp, clean writing, Gordon. You paint a picture about the simple act of felling a tree but with an insight that could only come from having performed the task. I agree with Peta, I think the last verse breaks the flow. Good on you.
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