What a gorgeous day it was!

The majestic sun shone in all its glory

Within its folds bliss wrapped the earth

Merrily the leaves sang as the branches did

A swaying dance to the melodious gentle breeze

The birds chirped harmoniously

The animals frisked around the tree

Sheltered under its foliage

A perfect day it was!

But, suddenly a screech

Tore through the merrymaking

The frightened birds and animals took off

The exhilarating music was now a raucous of fear

What happened? What was that horrifying sound?

Shaken up to the core they asked one another

The trees stood still, anxious to know

What it was that scared them to death

They knew not, death was glaring at them

Silently they waited till one of them heard

A loud and clear agonized shrill

Chilled and numbed they stood-

A thudding, chopping sound they heard

A lumberjack was at his play

The tree pleaded with him to spare but

On deaf ears it fell!

The bleeding tree moaned and groaned in deep pain

While the panicked forest helplessly watched appalled at

The indescribable ruthlessness of the Humans

In sheer fear they mumbled to each other

‘How very heartless Man is!

Soon it’s going to be our fate too,

Let’s teach him a lesson’

Saying so they swooped and jumped at his neck

‘The charge of the light brigade,’* it was

Taken unawares the hysterical lumberjack

Within seconds disappeared

Never to be seen again!

The twigs and branches were then collected

A funeral was performed consoling

The tree bereft of some its arms?

Tearfully it uttered-

‘I’ve never harmed any being least of all a Human

In fact I’ve always helped them in more than one way

Then why do they want to murder me in my prime!’

Very boldly and loudly all then shouted in unison

‘We, the forest dwellers and our kith and kin everywhere

Deserve more respect and honor than is meted out to us, you Demons!’

*The Charge of the Light Brigade is a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

                                                                                                   ~Anuradha. S. Bannore

                                                                                                      Vadodara, India