The Great Gum Tree

Crack!  

Every year I visit you and admire the stories you hold 

A million leaves green  

A canopy of life to unfold  

Your branches are outlying 

Tell a story with every twist  

Wildflowers enclose your roots 

And the sun lays upon your trunk  

Embracing you

And yet

I experience your pain 

I see your cuts and wounds  

They're killing you, I know 

I gaze at your fallen ancestors 

Beneath your bark, you have skin like ours 

Precious and delicate  

A life to save  

You will not be here forever 

How can we help?