Not An Accident

My heart hurts

As I watch you fall to the ground

Once so mighty and strong

I can hear

Your cries of agony

Years of growth

And blessing

And fruit

The loud breaking,

The cracking,

The final thud

Forced by man,

knocked and beaten

With human tools

of torture

Because we thought we knew better

As you crash,

It's like the sound of a car hitting the pavement

With pieces of glass and debris

creating a mound of memory

of pain and trauma

of hurt bodies

But you, you leave little twigs,

Bright fruit that might have been good,

For little children that could jump as high as each shoot

Stems of flowers, that must have been food

For little birds that once perched in your branches.

You leave seed pods, to create new life

In spite of your fall,

A symbol of resurrection,

A mark of revival,

A reminder of restoration,

It teaches me to hope

When all is lost.