The Living Tree

First of all, my apologies to Shel Silverstein. I really do love "The Giving Tree"; it is among my favorites. Yet, as I walked my dog recently, this "parody" came to me, and I have found that I cannot let it go. And so, here is my first draft. Perhaps this will be just the first of a series of drafts of this poem. Perhaps this will be enough to get it out my system. Perhaps it is simply a writing exercise that would best be forgotten.

For those of you not familiar with the original story, please go read it. Click here to view the Amazon page of the book, which also has some good reviews. That this story is so controversial is wonderful, because to me, that means that people are reading (hopefully; I know the 'Harry Potter' bans at many schools were spearheaded by individuals who had never read the stories). I disagree with the first reviewer that the story should not be read to children younger than 10; my kids are perfectly capable of learning my values, and discussions about such from a young age seem to me to be logical.

So after adding the above discussion, I almost feel bad about writing this poem...
but not really.

The Living Tree

Once there was a tree
And she loved a little dog
And every day the dog would come
and he would pee on her trunk
and chew on her branches

and the tree was happy

And on this tree there lived a squirrel
And the tree loved the squirrel
For every day the squirrel would come
and it would climb up her trunk
and pick her acorns
and look for food in her shade
and store them in her trunk
and it would run on her branches and play

and the tree was happy

But then there were those times
when the squirrel would be out
and the dog would come to visit
and the dog would chase the squirrel
and the squirrel would run up the trunk, and onto a branch
and chirp angrily at the dog
while the dog barked angrily back

And the tree would drop a branch and say
"Come, dog, pee on my trunk,
Chew on my branches,
And be happy."
But the dog could not hear the tree
for trees cannot really talk
and the dog was barking far too loudly anyhow
and when he wasn't barking he was growling
just so he wouldn't have to hear the squirrel's taunting chirps.

So the tree would shake its branches and say
"Come, squirrel, gather some acorns,
Run on my branches,
And be happy."
But the squirrel would not listen
and would dig its claws into the trunk
to keep from falling off
the crazy shaking tree

And this hurt the tree,
so she shook instinctively
and the squirrel fell to the ground.
The tree could only watch
As the dog saw the squirrel,
forgot the tree,
and chased the squirrel.
Around and around
Side to side
The dog's large frame
attached to a leash
was no match
for the quick maneuvering
and strong survival instinct
of the stunned squirrel.
The tree watched
as the dog wandered away
and the squirrel ran up
another tree
...for now.