Once There Were Trees

Once there were trees 
every where

They lined city streets
softened
man-made facadesBent, curved, arched
over country lanes 
cooling hot asphaltEncircled lakes, 
streams, rivers, roads, highways,bywaysCovered mountains 
thick in growth 
day turned night beneath their leafy canopy

Flowering trees adorned 
front-yard lawns 
Graceful lace 
swayed in the summer breeze

Slowly, insidiously 
they disappeared 
one by one 
two by two 
three by three 

No one seemed to care 
until there were none

Monuments built 
Homage to the tree 
They fell in disrepair 
Disappeared

Only their shadows remain

– Shelley Lowell