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Forgotten Forests

Sharing with The Sunday Muse for Sunday Muse #197.

Photography by Kristine Wayman

My hand was not shaped for the axe
so it waited--tooth in the tough wood;
back of its head warm, then hot, then cooler;
body dreaming of wood made useful.
When I brought it into the garage
and left it, carefully, in a corner,
it dreamed of being outdoors,
felt the thin frame of the garage,
the restless former forest underneath,
and, then, it was just an axe.
Silent, dreamless, and inert.
Our forests are long forgotten. 

Missed y'all last week! 

-- chrissa

Comments

  1. Carrie Van HornFebruary 5, 2022 at 8:18 AM

    We missed you too my friend! This is a deep and lovely ode to trees and all the ones long since gone to axes in greedy men's hands. It always saddens me when I drive by a large property where all the trees have been taken to accommodate a shopping center or neighborhood. It really is sad on so many levels. Beautiful writing Chrissa!

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  2. indybevFebruary 5, 2022 at 8:24 AM

    It saddens me to see a tree cut down. Land developers are heartless and greedy, destroying much of beautiful for one more lot, one more house. Point well taken.

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  3. JimFebruary 5, 2022 at 8:27 AM

    Chrissa, I am sorry your axe has gone still and dreams no more. Such a nice write to read this morning. I've got stuff in my garage, some used and some not. Biggest bulk is two Ford Mustangs, a 1974 and a 1998, disabled but wanting to be on the go. No, wishes to go fast but doesn't chop wood.
    ..

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  4. FireblossomFebruary 5, 2022 at 9:00 AM

    I was thinking of the wooden handle of the axe, too. I really like the way you wrote it, Chrissa. One of my favorites of yours.

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  5. Sherry Blue SkyFebruary 5, 2022 at 9:32 AM

    This is really clever - seen from the axe's perspective. I loved it.

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  6. ms_liliFebruary 5, 2022 at 1:27 PM

    Such a melancholy atmosphere. I feel bad for opportunity cut short and then forgotten.

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  7. HelenFebruary 5, 2022 at 4:01 PM

    Stunning poem, Chrissa! Stunning.

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  8. Sunra RainzFebruary 6, 2022 at 6:21 AM

    I enjoyed your musings on the journey of the tree, and those final two lines finish it beautifully:

    "Silent, dreamless, and inert.
    Our forests are long forgotten."

    ReplyDelete
  9. qbitFebruary 6, 2022 at 10:11 AM

    Oooh! "body dreaming of wood made useful." is fantastic, and "tooth in the tough wood" is such a rugged image. I love you brought it around to the forest no longer there, that made a powerful ending.

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  10. TruedessaFebruary 6, 2022 at 11:22 AM

    I never really thought of the wooden handle of the axe before in that way. Strange that a product of a tree is used to cut down a tree. Welcome Back...

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  11. .February 6, 2022 at 3:29 PM

    Powerful. The last line made me appreciate the forest near our town even more.

    ReplyDelete
  12. purplepeninportland.comFebruary 12, 2022 at 4:55 PM

    This is wonderful poem, and comment on our society.

    ReplyDelete

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