How Could It Be?

I heard the news and wondered how could it be? For years, decades, we have stood strong atop this hill for all to see. We have looked over and down the valley and seen the many changes, oh the tales we could tell but, no, we keep them to ourselves-at least for those unwise to the life of a tree.

For here, today, we stand in a broken mess and while many will drive past and state "the ice did them in" it did not. It was you, and you, and yes even you, those of you who flew past with eyes forward and not a glance in our direction as we proudly displayed our beauty, our colors and our strength. We have noticed those of you who take a gander at our delight and for you we thank, we bless.

But now, the sign below shows the fate of our future fore we have lost faith in the two-legged who speak in tongue. We do not understand you but you do speak loudly, deafening in some cases, in your actions and your body language.

Those who do not see us we ask to look beyond yourselves and to us for all we stand for, the years and decades of our history. Our hearts, our branches reach out to as many as we can, but we have grown weary of what we see, we have tried and preserved for years, wishing, hoping and in our own way praying that more of you would see us for the bliss we give to you.

Our hearts and souls have weakened and we find ourselves victims of the two-leggeds who look upon us not with eyes of beauty but with eyes of greed, lust and power. So, we have discussed this in our way and decided that we don't want to become the victim of the torturous chainsaws and dozers. We want to go...in our own way.

And so it is.

And now many who had not seen us before see us now. Yes, we are broken and not so majestic. We wish, hope and pray that, perhaps, you will make a change. You will look upon others like us more frequently with more vision and be aware.

And stop that blank stare.

Image by Cheryl A. Smith taken December 2008