Umbilical

.      
The cousins of our home, the trees      
Have man to thank upon their knees  
For over time destroying all  
That trees were guarding from the fall.  
 
Of how they kept the history  
From turning into mystery  
Within the rings their bodies stored,
The loss of which we can't afford.      
 
Despite the treasure trove of trees,      
The high rise place for birds & bees,  
The gentle giants' ev'ry breath
Gives humans life instead of death.      
 
But human kind since biblical  
Has long cut the umbilical.  
For idol gods & sacrifice  
Man laid them waste for war & vice.  
 
Though often living side by side  
While giving food & rest abide,  
So few would heed their company.    
Instead gave in to gluttony.  
 
So where has wanton gotten us:    
Less need, less greed, superfluous?  
And always poets write of loss,  
Of lonely lives that pay the cost.      
 
 
 
This is written for and entered in the DUP competition "Quotes Competition - Kahlil Gibran", inspired by this quote from Kahlil Gibran:  
 
"Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky,      
We fell them down and turn them into paper,      
That we may record our emptiness.".