PRUNED

After two months of rain
The Park needs pruning
Telephone Company with
Hydraulic ladders, chain saws
Shears, thinning cutting back
Jubilant growth, exuberance
Pruned.  Thankful I am
For my Gardner who daily
Snips, trims, curtails and clips
My errant or overly ambitious
Ways, imprudence, abandoned
Projects reduced to slash, piles
Taken off in trucks, no burning
Here, then finally the streets
And walks are swept of wood
Clippings, dust, yanked leaves.
What more could we have done
In our Park to assure abundant
Life?  Errors in judgment
Forever removed, only a scar
That bleeds for a few days
Gum swelling to seal off more
Misadventure. I see sacrifice
In this care, those giving up
That others may succeed. 
My ancestors came just so far
Signaling  the way, offering
Their nutrients that I might
Live, blossom and give fruit.

c) Jan G. Otterstrom  July 1, 2007  Costa Rica