Weigh Before You Slay
Weigh Before You Slay
A butchered bleeding stump
Of a once gigantic Peepal tree
Stood askance on a roadside
What was my crime?
That I nestled a thousand avians?
And gave out tons of O2?
That I hosted a merry meeting?
And sheltered wanderers too?
Nay.......!
I came in the way......!
Of madly marching marauding mankind
They came one day with axe and cutter
I sobbed, I moaned, I wished to mutter
Do not commit the blunder of plunder
Why no one sensed danger, I wonder
Bit by bit they chopped off
My crown my foliage and my limbs
A scarred torso left behind
A marred ugly bloodless clump
Bare avenues bereft of vines
Glory of Gulmohar gradually dying
Lush laburnums in line of fire
Canopies of banyans awaiting pyre
What with burgeoning humans and wheels
You snatched our space you stooped to steal
Sacrificial goats first casualty
Of your reckless expansion activity
'Murder of Mute' we witness everyday
Thousands of my brethren fallen prey
To make way for rails or bay
Doomsday, I must say, not far away
Monumental destruction monumental loss
Stop! O foolish man, Stop!
Blighted future harvest of dust
You sure will reap for greed and lust
Today I and my ilk stand dumb and mute
We only pity thee, you senseless brute
Advancement at what cost? must ask thee
Sounding your death knell committing hara-kiri
Alarm bells are ringing loud and clear
Fragile ecology on brink of tear
Back to Nature judicious consumption
Sustainable growth your only salvation