The Return of the Lorax

*One very early Christmas morning long ago and far away, I was hard(ly) at work again. In the spirit of the season, and being a child again, I offer a poem I wrote as a tribute to Dr. Seuss: What walks through the forest, And shakes all the trees? Is it a fat tourist, With very large feet? Who don’t we see much, That hides among the trees? Could it be Sasquatch, With his big hairy feet? Perhaps it’s a giant, I anticipated. Or it could be an elephant, Who just flatulated? I walked through the woodland, And came to a clearing. I saw it was man, It’s what I’d been fearing. With his dirty machines, That were chopping up wood. They were tearing down trees, Anyway that they could. Right in the middle, Of this terrible scene, There stood someone little, Rather hairy and green. I thought, could it be, That my screws have come loose? Because what I saw, Was right out of Dr. Seuss! “No more saws, no more axe”, “No more killing then please!” Cried out the Lorax, “I speak for the trees!” And just like before, He warned man of the mess. The “Oncelers” chose to ignore, In the name of progress. All for the sake of greed, Man and his loyal machines, Kept on making more “Thneeds”, And cutting down trees. Not one man gave a care, As they felled all the trees. They smogged up the air, And clogged up the streams. Just once more, Spoke the Lorax, “It would not be as before”, “If you had done as I asked.” “Hope is what man needs.” “That’s all of what’s left to him now.” “You must plant the seeds,” “Somewhere and somehow.” “The trees will come back tall and green.” “There will be a rebirth.” “Air and water will again be clean.” “Together we can save the Earth!” The Earth is our Mother, She gives life to us. We must take care of her, Or with her turn to dust. From land to seas, Never be lax. Speak for the trees! Just like the Lorax. Inspired by, and based on a character created by Theodore Geisel, AKA “Dr. Seuss”.