They Cut Her Down

I felt it in my rings. The earth shook beneath me as the ax fell upon her trunk and she joined her brothers in death.

I wish something could have been done. Maybe someone could have saved her, but she is no more. I can only hope she lives again on the other side.



Butterfly doctors surrounded her. Sap still flowed through her trunk for a time, but the life left as the humans took her wood to fuel their purposes.

"A life wasted," the doctors said.

"Bring medicine, bring bandages, bring splints and cool water," said the bee flying past. But nothing can be done. They may treat the symptoms of death--they may even succeed in making her appear to live again. They could raise her trunk and place it where it once was and bind it there until it stands upright in the wind, but they cannot bring her back. Once the sap has grown cold in her veins, there will be no return.