The barren tree

There is a barren tree by the lake side.
baked by the scorching sunlight, it's bark is dry, parched and cracked
Its leaves are unsightly, shrivelled, old and yellow.
Its branches lean dangerously on one side
As if they don't belong, as if they were forced to be part.
surrounded by lush green grass, it stands out as an unattractive piece of creation
Forming a sharp antithesis to the beautiful surroundings.
Plagued by barrenness and made the face of shame and object of mockery

But this tree is a special one.
It can think, it has always been buried in protracted periods of pondering.
it can feel pain,
but no joy
for it has never known joy.
It can weep, but not laugh
The whispers in its leaves coalesce into audibility.
'Destroy me, chop off all my branches, and cut me off the face of the earth'
Pleading, pleading to the blue skies above.
The incessant pleading seems to fall on no ears
The sound is swallowed up in the breeze sweeping across the lake
'Why do I have to suffer so?'- no one is listening.
'Oh help me!' Somebody. Anybody. Nobody.

Mother nature looks on, saddened at the tribulations of her son
She agonizes over his distress
Painfully, slowly, lazily - she closes her eyes, ponders and shakes her head

She will not be hastened unto action
Her emotionless face contorts into an angry scowl
Letting out a bitter, sardonic, venomously poisonous laughter, she turns her head away
Angry at herself for feeling anything for this aging tree
She is not supposed to sympathise
But she knows she can't hold out for long
Someone will somehow find the tree and cut it down
Yes, her enemies will scatter her plans.
and her long standing unfeeling self will be thwarted.
Until then, this tree will continue languishing.