Speaking For A Tree Poem by gary polonsky

Instead of speaking OF a tree,
I'll endeavour to speak FOR it,
"You with the axe, tell me true,
What did I ever do to you? "
‎I opined no word nor wit,
I just came to ‎murder it.

Instead of speaking OF a sea,
Let me float a comment FOR it,
"You with the black bag made of plastic,
Why treat me so drastic? "
I couldn't muster up the verbage,
I just came to dunk the garbage.

Instead of speaking OF the air,
I'll breathe a message FOR it,
"You, so hell-bent on pollutin',
What makes you so high-fallutin'? "
Again, my tongue jelled like a tar bin,
What did I know about carbon?

Instead of speaking OF the soil,
I unearthed a couplet FOR it,
"All we peppers, beets and beans,
Why transmogrify our genes? "
I gave up, done like dirt,
What more could I, brainless, hurt?


Written in Ontario, Canada - 19th April 2020