To a local shrub with roots so deep

See first live rendition here

Can a transplanted tree afford to lose rain

To a local shrub with roots so deep?

Wide and far in its reach

To the sandy soil of the settler’s beach

Where an ancient ship wrecked at sea

Spilled its seeds on fertile soil

Grew a forest in a far flung land

Bearing fruit carried away

Depleted and thinned towards extinction

A foreign tree lost its distinction

Without maintenance

Till a leaf in the breeze was all that remained

And the sweet taste that bloomed was soon forgotten

Becoming an eyesore not worth kindling

As lonely it had become as could be

Yet just north across the tropic of Cancer

In a temperate zone with a kind of its own

So much density the forest did see

With its own kind thriving naturally

Through storms and droughts and falling outs

Wandering offspring in wind settling in

Unpicked fruit fallen to the ground

For anyone who’d lost their doubt

This is how culture comes about

As ship-wrecked fodder dwindles

To a local shrub with roots so deep

Tentacles that drink it up

strangling to keep

May 12, 2021

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