Death of a Tree
The crows watch silently as their home is felled
The sparrows always knew it would happen
And kept to their hedging homes
They heard the starlings spread the word
among the clouds the loss bemoaned
The wood pigeon calls for a new home
The magpie has lost its hunting boughs
Whose eggs will he be stealing now?
The songbird, Ahh, the blackbird
Where will he herald the coming dawn
or sing the setting sun to sleep?
How will I know how fierce the wind blows?
Or listen to the rustling leaves
kissed by a gentle summer breeze.
How I lament the death of this tree
The birds, they weep along with me.
Mary L Walsh Poet 