Felling The Trees

Felling the Trees        6/26/03 © Sidney Couch


The trees have all come down and now we can see everything

We lived behind the trees
In the shadow of the trees

The trees are all down and now we are fully exposed.
I have such ambivalence.

All that shock of impact
All that structure, removed from the air.

Rot was taking them slowly from underground,
Ruining them from within--
Their felling was inevitable; 
We could choose their direction or leave it to the wind
Leaving it to the wind was too risky.

Still, even rotten cover is cover.

But you had only to watch them reeling in the winds to understand our choice.
I have such ambivalence.  It seems so awful when a tree falls.

There is a clean field of lavender planted on the west side,
And it will get all the sun now
And now we have the view of the mountains clear from the windows
And the warmth of the afternoon sun through chilly coastal air.
I will plant vine maples and shrubs
Crabapples and cedars and mountain ash on the east side among the Doug firs
And in time, they will grow and be full,
And the land will still support structure in the air.
The birds will still come and the wind will caress the leaves and boughs
And I will be comforted for a season

But it will take a kingdom of a thousand years
To fully redress the land.