TURNING TO STONE

WHAT DO THE TREES KNOW?

What do the trees know about suffering?
These trees who have fought nothing
and feared nothing? These trees
who have never known thirst or hunger?
These trees who were never martyrs—
what do they know about suffering?
These trees who have witnessed
genocides and catastrophes?
These trees who have witnessed
murder after murder after murder?
These trees who have witnessed
the forced penetration of cruelty
into humanity and into the earth?
These trees who cannot speak,
cannot scream, and cannot cry
out to God? These trees who cannot
be heard by anyone living or anything dead?
These trees who can only be seen standing—
and my God, even as they die, these trees
stand still, and wait patiently for the axe
or the next devastation to come.