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On Killing a Tree
Gieve Patel
About Gieve Patel
Chew Patel (born 1940) is regarded as one of the prominent Indian poets writing in English today. He is a medical practitioner by profession based in Mumbai. He is a devoted subscriber of the 'Green Peace Movement'. His poem expresses his anxiety and bitterness at human beings' cruelty to nature. Patel's poetical works include poems How Do You Withstand, Body and Mirrored Mirroring. His plays include Princes, Savaksa and Mr Behram. His poems haze appeared in The Illustrated Weekly of India, Poetry India and New Writing in India.
It takes much time to kill a tree,
Not a simple jab of the knife
Will do it. It has grown
Slowly consuming the earth,
Rising out of it. feeding
Upon its crust. absorbing
Years of sunlight, air, water,
And out or its leprous hide
Sprouting leaves.
So hack and chop
But this alone wont do it.
Not so much pain Will do it.
bleeding bark will heal
And from close to the ground
Will rise curled green twigs,
Miniature boughs
Which if unchecked will expand again
To former size.
No.
The root is to be pulled out--
Out of the anchoring earth:
It is to be roped. tied,
And pulled out-snapped out
Or pulled out entirely,
Out from the earth--cave,
And the strength of the tree exposed,
The source. white and wet,
The most sensitive. hidden
For years inside the earth.
Then the matter
Of scorching and choking
In sun and air,
Browning. hardening,
Twisting. withering,
And then it is done.
Available Answers
- 1.
Justify the title of the poem On Killing on a Tree.
- 2.
Can a simple jab of the knife kill a tree? Why not?
- 3.
What is the meaning of bleeding bark? What makes it bleed?
- 4.
What is the meaning of anchoring earth and earth cave?
- 5.
What does the mean by the strength of the tree exposed?
- 6.
What finally kills the tree?
16 more answer(s) available.