Trees

photo credits: Trees by Andre Giroux

Trees,

The first thing I saw

The green soft leaves falling against my skin

Like the warmth of the sun on a winter morning 

The brown and dark, strong and stark trunks

Holding the leaves like the sky holds the stars.

Trees,

I grew up with them,

Some stood proud, some held frowns

But all together, were the forest’s crown

I dig my tusks in the soil to quench their thirst

In return, they shelter me when the clouds burst.

Trees,

They are everywhere,

Some as shorts as humans, some as tall as me

But whenever I get lost, they call for me.

Trees,

Where are they taking them?

Some humans cut them down while the others frown?

I see less and less everyday, is this what humans call doomsday?

Trees,

I walked for days and days to see them again 

But oh? Humans walk on their graves?

My family gone, my home taken

Have I really been forsaken?

Note from the poet:

I wrote this poem from the perspective of an elephant. The project of cutting down of over

4000 trees in 7-mod, near Rishikesh in Uttarakhand, a heavily elephant populated area, were just about to be executed. I was on my way to Noida by train and when the train was going through a forest, I realized how many lives the trees sheltered. In my life, I have seen people watching their houses being taken and they wander around with helplessness. Then it occurred to me, the situation was not so different from the elephants. They watch their houses get destroyed, leaving them with no place to go and they just wander till they find another forest or get caught by humans and be put in either zoos or reserves. But as they say, elephants never forget, so this displacement will not be easy for them.. Elephants are the pillars of forests, and in their absence, the entire system would collapse.

Ishan Kukreti was born and raised in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, and is an alumnus of St. Joseph’s Academy, Dehradun. He has written several short stories and poems for various websites and occasionally experiments with writing plays. He is currently pursuing a B.Com (Hons) from UPES, Dehradun.

His interests include music, and he is currently learning to play the flute. He also enjoys sports, particularly Formula 1 and football, as well as nature, from safaris to walks, appreciating everything it has to offer. He is also interested in cinema from around the world and enjoys analysing films.