Branching Out Poem by Daniel Murphy

Tallest, strongest, stood there longest.
You watched countless seasons change.

Limbs outstretched for miles around
Your robust body proudly placed
Rooted deeply in the ground.

You shelter those furry and feathery
You're home to small and big.

'The giant in the sky' is what us locals say
And outsiders 'wow, no way! '

Choking vines crawl up your trunk
Yet cannot sap your strength.

Your fellow race are but dwarfed
You starve them of their light.
And monkeys jump from branch to branch
Each one a playful toy.

Nature's test of time has met its match
There's no end to your mighty rule.

I bet there's centuries more to come:

So again, you'll brave the storms
And those forest fires
And children hanging from your limbs.

But one winter's day it all stood still;

No beckoning of birds
Nor monkeys playing in the air.
No lovers carving love notes
There was silence everywhere.

You see, us locals tried our best
But money doesn't grow on trees.

So the plans were made
And the machines arrived to peel you clean away.

Now there is a silence that is so deafening
I have to hold my ears.

For you leave behind memories rooted deep
In hearts, in souls and in minds.

Our giant in the sky
No, there will never be another.
But I kept a piece to remind me
How from the rain you were my cover.