Paloma – The Forest Trembles
the mountain was silent
inhaled movement of a victim
hiding from death
shocked witnesses gingerly return
with the moon
rejoicing songs of sunrise
filtering through the canopy
were splintered by chainsaws
explosives, helicopters
and machinery of men
mercenaries
invading ancient homes
home
a bear den under a live tree
the trunk six feet wide
now blue marked to be cut
cutting the mountain
this mountain has survived glaciers
regenerating the coast
with uncounted diversity of life
live, lives, multi-layers of lives
ending
old ones fall like bombs
reverberating up the mountainside
smashing everything in their way
these old ones
branches had danced
entwined each other in life
like a lover’s embrace
these old ones
murdered
i heard squealing
critter caught in the fall
where saws hacked marrow
slicing through rings
years of memories
cracking reeling
pinning the occupant
who mournfully wails
its death cry
an angry Chipmunk
screeches
as we photodocument the crime
chalk outlining the victim
as it is being stabbed
helplessly hoping for anything
anything to stop this madness
but settling for a better view
of the perpetrator
corporations mock
our futile attempts
by owning the government
they reserve us only a space
in their jails
(Ode to Sugarloaf, may timber
mongers spend eternity in the
wastelands they’ve created)
Paloma
