Claws

Written in response for https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/category/what-do-you-see/

It crawls all across my branch, its humanlike fingers tighten against my roots. I hear the angry rumble of the machine, its angry claws ready to cut through the red mark on my trunk. Cold, like a forgotten winter, there is nothing I can do to stop this insidious monster.

I have lived hundreds of years; seen many changes in my lifetime. It used to be, only one tree would be cut down. Now, thousands are wrenched from the ground, to leave nothing but a terrible burning. The screams – if only they could hear what I have to hear.

Humankind, the worst kind of animal – they take more than they need, and only think of how it serves them. The humble rat will take shelter, the ant will take our shade, but only humans will cut us down before we have had a chance to thrive.

Now, I pray to Mother Nature – A silent plea for it to be over before I realise it has begun. No such luck. Clanking claws wrap around my trunk, strangling me. Squeezing life out of my rings. I have never felt such pain, as the machine almost enjoys my suffering.

It is only when I fall silent, she takes me in her arms, soothing my pain.

In your guiding light, I will be reborn.