The Last Tree Sentinel

                                      The Last Tree Sentinel

"Once upon a time there was a Paradise

abandoned by man in search for glory. " - avr

 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Sentinel on Tagaytay Ridge - but for how long? March 24, 2013

  

I braved the wind and storm, drought and rain,

     vandals and lovers carving their pledge, 

the beetle and caterpillar, all that has to gain

     from me standing on this ridge at its edge.

 

I was as proud as a king, tallest among my kin,

     home of countless tenants and refugees;

by height and place I was keen at touching the sky,

     though so little I felt on Babel's knees.

 

The view around was lush and green, verdant 

     in the sun as mist and fog would unfold;

a woodland was my world, I was once a part,

     until humans came to replace the old.

 

My neighbors are gone, I lost track of my lineage, 

     I've no one to talk to, though humans can 

in queer sound far from the gentleness of breeze

     all day long and after the sun is down. 

 

I lost sight overlooking the famed volcano, 

     its lake within a lake shining in the sun;

my vantage is blocked by roofs and walls and smog,

     an orphan I became by progress of man. 

 

I no longer hear plaintive and joyful songs,

     recitation of verses under my wing; 

weary travelers no longer stop to take a nap,

     nor birds nest in my branches and sing.

 

I live in fear for the woodsman, the engineer,

     but I've lived with fear enough to understand

the world of man: fear akin to his existence

     hidden in want - guideless, boundless in band. 

 

Man's era shall reign over nature, but for how long?

     I can only tell from my ancestors' story:

once upon a time there was a Paradise 

    abandoned by man in search for glory. ~