Ballycasey Treestump

by Gloria L. Corneliusen

By the Ballycasey bypass
a battered, bruised, badly beaten
tree stump refuses to go down
to die a silent death.

It holds it’s bare, broken, tattered branches up
for every one to see.
As they pass him by,
He weeps...

“PROGRESS...YOU CALL MY PREVIOUS HOME.
MY SOFT GREEN TUFT,
NOW A ROAD OF STONE.”

While the trees behind the wall,
who witnessed all,
refuse to speak
Lest they be the next to fall
In the Name of Progress.