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My land lady gave me this poem that one of her friends who recantly passed away wrote..Not really a fan of poetry but found it quite interesteing to see a poets view of us!

The tree feller

All at once there was a man in the tree.
I'd misseed his quick ascent to fix
the first pulley two houses high,thread the red lifeline.
i discovered him in the branches,broad belted like a warrior
dangling iron loops and clasps,coils of rope ,the thigh bands
that would bear him if he fell.
When he nonchanchalantly let go his chainsaw,
let it swing down on its long strap,
i felt the shock of its weight on my own body.

He monkeys up a limb in a sudden gusts
gripping the bark with spiked boots that leave scars,
wraps rope in intricate thick knots
then sighns to an earthbound mate to brace the pulley and back off.
Gently,precisley,he cuts two calculated notches,
and a roped branch swings miraculously round the trunk,
some how not crashing him,and lands
exactly where he planned in the minute garden.
he smiles.

A skilled man who loves his work is irrestistable.
I go upstairs window to see better.
Branch by leafy branch he works upwards
moving thoughtfully from hold to hold,feeling with hands and feet
(he wears no gloves like his friend below)
pitching rope gently,deftly,over the next target,
above all balancing.
He never leans to far or stretches out,
knows gravity is his foe. Could be a dancer.
The saw moans in his work
sprays sawdust on the wind like yellow smoke
and steadily reduces
that once broad,leaf thick,life rich,wind brush dome
to two grey fingers in the sky.

lashed like a hug to one of them he carefully
carves through the wood above him
pauses to test the air,the balance,his own stance
then gives a push and sends a heavy log
free falling'thonk'on to the echoing earth.
Length by length he drops the drums of wood,
while out of sight the harsh growl of the shredder
reduces the tree's centuries to chips.
at last only one barren trunk is left.
he abseils down and sheds his ropes and shackles,
leans into a last long cut that makes conclusion,
and lays the carcase out.
no walls ,no roses and no men were hurt.

now I must learn
a sudden wide sky,an absence overhead,
a new print of the sun's light on my land.

Like that alot. thanks for posting.

I like that, Can picture it happening, Good stuff!!

Nice to see work from clean eyes! mine have normaly got dust in them

Nice words from an observent person..

Ta for the post

I like it.....