She watched them kill the forest.
She watched them come for the trees,
She watched the animals run away from their homes
She watched the fruits fall.
She said, “Why are you doing this?”
She said, “Lives depend on this forest.
Not just the animals that live here
But the humans that live near here.”
She said, “The wood is used.
The fruits are used
The leaves are used
The water under the ground is used.”
She said, “If Providence provides,
Then this forest is holy.”
She said, “How do you take it away?
Who gave you the right?”
And she was shown the paper that made it possible.
As she looked at the words, blurring, she realised.
‘Beware of the day the paper matters more than the forest’
This was nothing. It didn’t exist. It was words on paper.
The wind could blow it away,
The rain could wash it away
It didn’t cost anything
It wouldn’t fill a stomach
It was worth less than the tree it was made out of
It was worth less than the ants on that tree,
It was worth as much as the leaves
That fall off that tree and die
She watched one dead leaf
Raze a forest.
She watched and realised
A strange alchemy had been achieved
They couldn’t turn lead into gold
So they pretended lead was gold
And turned gold into lead
And life into death.
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