The Love That Sustains Thee!

For over 200 rains and summers,

Lived here have I,

Never once hurting a human,

Nor even a fly!

By the side of a dirt-track,

Perhaps linking two towns,

Was I thrown by a traveler,

A monkey or bird, perchance!

The rich red mountain earth,

Didst pull my roots in deep,

The warm sun and chill mist,

Brought my trunk up steep!

The mountain breeze didst spread,

My brown branches abreast,

Whilst the sweet rain and dew,

Fed and filled me with love, the best!

Happily, grew I, as seasons rolled by,

The storms made me stronger, by and by!

Weather was kind, and I bloomed,

In fragrant exuberance of joy!

Bees drank my love, and blessed,

My boughs soon laden with mangoes,

So juicy, tart and sweet,

Delight of birds, monkeys, and man-kids!

Tarry, many a wary traveler did,

Quite awhile in my bower of shade,

Refreshed by ambrosia, gladly shed,

Left, light hearted, a spring in step!

The faster the wheels of time turned,

The quicker my brethren burned,

Ere long, the track turned road,

A grand highway, was it termed!

With roaring, spitting chainsaws came men,

Unprotesting, shading ‘em till end,

In silent agony, we fell,

Giving in to broaden their whim!

Knowing what’s born is meant to die,

Wouldst I happily give my body,

Without once asking why,

Yet in my last breath, must ask!

When thou takest me from my world,

Man, will thou plant more of me,

That I may live on through my offspring,

And bless thee and thine, with joy of living?

In days of yore,

I had not to wait,

I was beset by squirrels and birds,

And mischievous, snotty-nosed kids!

Happily, didst I watch,

As they sucked my honeyed juice,

Laughing and dancing,

Threw my seeds, far and wide!

For thus lived I,

Though my old body died,

Death, just a siesta,

A new birth, my fiesta!

Then all that didst change,

For every season, an auction,

The pickling companies won,

My tender mangoes in brine!

No more seeds to mature,

Nor a single fruit to ripen,

The birds, hungry, search, not find,

And alas, in me, ends my kind!

Man, realize ere it’s too late,

The love that sustains me, sustains thee,

See, my body be not wood, nor money,

But the love that sustains thee!