Layla Riley-Hill Poet Free verse

The fallen tree

The roots of our trees poisoned 
The fruits of our labour rotted
In the middle of this the core slowly falls apart,
A reminder of what has been tarnished -
What is now lost 
The others flourish, growing until the rot is forgotten
It becomes erased, disappearing until invisible 
The story of an ancestry fallen

Admist the extinction of something so significant
The world continues to move on
More trees planted, even stronger -
To keep the damage, forever hidden
A history cut short, now a distant memory -
So far

Why would one tree poisoned, 
Why does one tree matter
The answer -
It was different 
It carried great power 
It was blessed by the moon and stars
It was favoured by elemental nature
And to those that were envious, felt inferior 
A tree that held the knowledge of the world
But still managed to be humble 
It carried the weight of progression, 
Even invention 
The land surrounding, belonged to it 
Filled with wealth and riches, infinite,
Yet the trees around it performative
Claiming to protect -
But for the safety of themselves, choose to betray it to the enemy

Stripped of its bark
Ridden of its fruit
Separated of its roots 
Stolen of its identity
And buried under the weight of the enemy's jealousy and hate

And if you haven't figured out who is the tree
It represents the colonialism and erasure of black history

♡Like0

Share Poem

---

Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment