Ode to a Tree - Guest Blog

This is about the tree that used to be right outside our 4th story window, we were in the canopy.

Ode to a tree.

There are these men outside my window cutting down our beautiful tree. The bees are still scrambling to pull the nectar from the blossoms on the remaining branches before they too are cut off and lowered to the ground. I miss the sound of the leaves when the wind blows. I miss the birds right outside my window chirping and mating and living. I can see it's rings, one for every year that I have lived. One of the men lets out a little woo! as the second to last limb falls from the tree's body. I can't see him, but his partner in the tree has an eagle cap on. One limb to go. The men chit chat as they prepare the ropes. Its just another day on the job for them. The first man climbs up the fire escape and gives me a little wave as he ascends to my roof. He looks kind. The air smells acrid, a combination of gasoline and sawdust. The eagle hat man is getting nervous with so few limbs left to stand on. He curses someone on the ground who just barely misses a falling branch. My throat hurts from the dusty air. I worry for a moment about my lungs closing up...what if I am allergic to the tree's death...imagine! The bees are getting their revenge, swarming around the head of the man on the roof. The last of the leaves are gone and only a bedraggled pole remains. I wonder about the eagle man in the tree. He says he's not from around here. He must have grown up climbing trees as a child, lovin' em. Now he cuts down the love of his childhood everyday for money, but he doesn't seem sad, so much the man now, conquering mother earth.

Jessie Lucia