Thursday, May 11, 2023

Just saw

 

I saw what you did

with the trees


Along the road & into the valleys

weaving to the lush forest


I saw what you did 

with the birds, hawks & butterflies


There were other creatures too

whose silence is now deafening when


You cut down that mother tree

with your giant saw, with disdain & lack


of empathy.  Thereafter

we all saw the giant warehouses covering


the landscape as sawdust,

the soft pink sky forever hidden from our eyes-


So don't complain now why

your fruits taste like plastic


And the air is a violent red, itching your lungs

And the land is ash, sinking with every fervered breath 



Just Saw from 

Erick Johansson


Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - OpenLinkNight, hosted by Linda.   Join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.

19 comments:

  1. What a beautiful, poignant poem Grace.

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  2. An interesting image choice and a perfect protest poem for those of us who love trees, Grace.

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  3. I love your twist on the word "saw" and your tone in this poem, Grace.

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  4. Ah yes; trees are important to the environment and our food basket and our sense of reverence and gratitude.

    Much💖love

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  5. A wonderful take on the picture, Grace! Well done.

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  6. I just posted the link to my entry for tonight and then clicked on yours... to find fallen trees, surreal art... the same threads are forcefully on our minds, are they not?

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  7. All goes to show our actions will catch up to haunt our being for being ungrateful to nature. Love the twist on 'saw' Grace!

    Hank

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  8. Grace, your poem is prophetic. If only they would listen. If only the leaders would stand for the trees and all the rest.

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  9. Stunning and powerful. Wow. There is such a controlled, undeniable rage. Beautiful, sharp and tragic poem Grace.

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  10. Ahhh...we are singing the same song with different voices. Beautifully worded and necessary.

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  11. I mentioned this and then read it to my wife this morning (after she told me the skies in Nova Scotia are hazy because of the Alberta wildfires). A profound poem.

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  12. a powerful 'J'accuse' voice especially with the double entendre of saw

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  13. Grace, this is happening throughout my beautiful smallish city of Bend! Thank you so much for taking this direction with your poem. The world needs to read it.

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  14. Perfect. This gave me chills. Love the 'I saw what you did' premise.

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  15. Powerful words, Grace. 🙁 Tragic, but true. The developers are buying up every inch of land. “Pave paradise and put up a parking lot.”

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  16. Harsh reality we are seeing everywhere. I like the controlled anger in your words, Grace.

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