Requiem to a Tree of Abundance and Peace

Requiem to a Tree of Abundance and Peace  

 Buddha gained enlightenment under the fig tree.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Author's daughter, Anna, laments over this felled 

Heritage Tree at Barangay Greater Lagro, QC c.2010

Whoever felled this old balete tree*,

drove the deities away;

    and the spirit of the tree shall not rest,

no prayer can ever repay;

this symbol of abundance and peace

gone in our inhuman way.

*Ficus Benjamina is often called Weeping Fig.  Ficus is symbol of peace and abundance in Asia and the Middle East. The seeds in the fruit represent unity and universal understanding and knowledge. Large wild figs are holy in East Asia: the Buddha gained enlightenment under such tree.