The Bonsai Tree Poem by Cherylyn Vardi

In an Arboretum of towering trees
The major attraction is the topiary
Visitors flock to this botanical art
Deaf to the tidings of twisted bark

Dwarfed gnarled confined and cramped
Refined deformity of stunted chance
Grotesque and beastly in shape and form
Bonsai is an art of social norm

Social artists train and prune
Saplings from their earthen womb
Bestial trunks and root formations
Haunt landscapes of the imagination

Bonsai is a fusion of ancient beliefs
Grafted dogma on nascent trees
Curtailed and customized to social needs
Individuals curved by Gardener's creed

Curated and cultured refined and groomed
Stripped to bare elements free will consumed
Prevented from growing towards natural light
The Bonsai has no conception of its personal plight

Chosen saplings are allowed to grow
Outside of pots in restricted rows
They are the ones who will one day be
Future Gardeners of Bonsai trees

Eastern thought and philosophy
Claim Bonsai is a ritual of harmony
Soul and nature intertwined
An art form of man to mimic the divine

Yet how can such a claim be true when
Gardeners strip saplings of their natural due
The artist duplicates a natural rite
By manipulating a mind of intellectual might

A Bonsai container is independent of earth
Separation of soul from body at birth
Though social allegiance may be a practical need
Deformation of Self turns flower to weed