Lament Of the Plants

Introduction

How I got this idea ?

One night I suddenly woke up at 2:30 a.m. I looked out from the window. It was all dark and quiet. Suddenly I heard the rustling sound of the tree. I felt that it was trying to say something. I attuned my ears to the rustling sound and tried to decode the doleful message. A while later, I heard two faint sighs heaved by the tree, the first , a sigh of relief ( that someone has at last heard its plea) , and the second, a sigh of optimism (that perhaps from now on, Man will realize the importance of trees and refrain from felling is).

I quickly poured the message into this poem and christened it as "Lament of the Plants".

Lament of the Plants

Know our story, O Man!

Before herbivorous came,

Before carnivorous came,

We came on this Earth first.

Though you arrived last on the scene

You usurped the per-born species

And ruled over the lower order

With an air of arrogance and disdain.

Lest you forget our pristine status,

We serve you in several ways

We provide basic food and vegs

Without which you could not survive!

You came 'stark naked; in this world,

We covered you with a piece of cloth

Later provided you with more

And fanciful variety of dresses.

We provide precious herbs and oils

From which you prepare medicines

To keep fit and recover from illness

Both you and domestic animals.

We render a lot of eco-services

Beneficial to every one

We purify water, cleanse the air

And prevent soil erosion.

Despite knowing fully all this

Look!  What a havoc you have wrought

34,000 species of 'ferns' alone

You have made nearly extinct.

Many more species you're pushing

Towards extinction everyday

Disrupting the bio-diversity

Of the complex eco-system.

This change will invite diseases

And derail your local economics

Also loss to agri and medi research

So ponder Man and mend your ways.

If flora is gone, fauna will follow

And then will follow your own destruction !

what's the use of all your knowledge

If you don't understand this simple thing.