Let's tell tree tale

 Around a little town's corner 

amid rain and breeze,

growing by the roadside

there's a tiny grove of trees


"I'm grown along the roadsides,

my leaves are nutritious and mellow.

People grow me for fodder

cattle loves me", smirks willow


"I might be deserted for being crooked

left to grow on a rock,

people shelter under my boughs

in the scorching sun and rain", prides oak


"Majestic and virile

I can't be felled to make a log,

creatures dwell in my hollow..

ecologically important I am", says hemlock


"My exudate's used as libation,

evils with my incense I repress,

associated with the Buddha

I am sacrosanct" cries cypress


"I can be sculpted on..

tender, soft and fine

sought after for furniture

I beat you all", remarks pine. 


People from the municipality comes along

when the bright sun shone

with maps and axes...

an hour later, all the trees are gone!


Karma Thukten

25th of May, 2022

Maokhola-Gelephu


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