TREES ARE US
Concerning the tragic and terrible and ignorant destructive attack, and criminal damage on the last, only solitary sycamore tree in that field that was felled by vandals, which is in an ongoing court process
my question is
why/how these ‘destructive vandals’ are facing a judge, as they should,
Yet when the HS2 was built to plough through fields and ancient forests, corporate vandals were supported by the police, those corporate tree vandals were legitimised, and the protesters instead were arrested.
TREES ARE US
When trees interrupt the passage of a street or rail or road
The trees themselves were defined as trespassing and were killed for their crimes!
Protesters instead were arrested.
TREES ARE US
When tree-lined streets in Sheffield were being rid of their beautiful ancient trees, corporate vandals were allowed to get away with the destruction, murder and felling of old great grandma and grandpa treasured native trees. No council was brought to justice; defending the trees was considered illegal, and protesters instead were arrested.
TREES ARE US
When anti-frackers were defending our water tables, and land in Lancashire from
Fracking companies like Cuadrilla, even though fracking was voted against by the people of Lancashire....the mining company were still allowed to continue to invade the area, to continue violently, stripping the land and wildlife, contaminating fertile land, poisoning the water table....to make their money.... to take what is not theirs to take…police were again brought in, acting as a private security company, here they were removing peaceful anti-fracking demonstrators, gentle land and wildlife protectors removing them for who?
But for Cuadrilla, it’s for the fracking company, not for us.
Not for the land protectors.
We are keepers of the land, using non-violent direct action to defend the land, our homes, and all we cherish.
Surely, the police should have been protecting us instead and upholding the democratic will of the people in Lancashire.
Whose laws and rights are the police and courts upholding? That’s also the issue here. The government is prepared to spend thousands on protecting these corporations and facilitating the corporate agenda.
Have you noticed that those politicians who don't live there were happy to allow fracking?
And we wondered while protesting whose laws and whose rights the police were upholding?
This is why many others arrived from other parts of the country to help fight to protect our land.
I still support the brave protesters' right
to bring attention to the issues, however hard it was.
I bless them for breaking the bad law,
The wind and the streets have strengthened my voice
I've sung above its rattles, its rumbles and moans
To reach you, and to cast a spell
to drown out your loudspeakers and your radios
TREES ARE US
The government's favourite tree is
that magic money tree, when suddenly the national debt doesn't exist.
They find the money for weapons but not for the elderly, disabled, struggling families, and kids. Our NHS.
We should all go shake the tree and see what falls out.
When it comes to the magic money tree.
There is one, and it could have been used to help the poorest and most vulnerable. But it wasn’t.
It proves that austerity is a political choice made by the government.
Instead, the very same people who, now that big business and capitalism more generally, are in serious trouble, seem to discovered that money tree,
announcing trillions to be pumped into the economy.
TREES ARE US
Then we have queens, princes, and mayors planting a tree.
Well, not exactly planting, more like putting their foot on a spade!
TREES ARE US
When ancient trees ‘encroach’…
When young trees interrupt the passage
of a street,
a rail or
straight road that doesn’t bend or wind…
The ageless trees themselves are defined
as trespassing… they’re chopped down
Felled and killed for their crime
of growing…
They hacked down new trespassers…
Demolished big old great grandpa trees…
I was just walking with my dog…
She was a Border collie with no boundaries.
and other trees
These are strange times when the president,
like a bullying child, is denying that he stole the apple
that we all saw him take from the tree.
TREES ARE US
And in the Middle East, Palestine,
there are those who will never understand the sacredness of the olives trees, “which you settlers have been cutting down and burning for decades
just to spite us and to break our hearts a little more.”
No one native to that land would dare do such a thing to the olives.
Now, no matter what happens from here or what fairytales you tell yourself and tell the world, you will never truly belong to that land.
TREES ARE US
Imagine the Fruit trees we could have planted. Instead, We paid for a single fighter plane-We could have paid less
We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that
could've housed our kid’s kids and sheltered the homeless
I'm Not trying to get everything right
to the nth Degree
As long as I get something
For you and for me
too many thoughts in my head, all buzzing
around like busy birds and bees
Often I can’t see
the wood from the trees,
We should not be investing in never-ending wars.
Weapons manufacturing workers!
Should be retrained, too.
The tobacco industry should retrain
miners Should be retrained,
Workers in the gambling, sugar, and soft drink industries too,
how about beekeeping
Or farming food, tree planting instead,
GARDENING?
TREES ARE US
One of the many greenwashing projects is run by two logging companies that cut down ancient and rare trees!
Most of this greenwashing is pure public relations, false promises of carbon neutrality and guilt-free flying!
TREES ARE US
I was pruning three apple trees a couple of months ago-
talking to them as I did so- apologising-
hoping that my excuse, ‘it’s just a haircut,’ was justified.
I might have been talking to myself-
I like to think I was communing with the tree like birds do.
From where did the phrase ‘out of my tree’ come?
I can see the wood for the trees…
And one's gourd is one's cranium
But we’re not out of the woods yet…
Bless those who climbed and lived up in the trees to save them.
Blessings to you-
And to birds singing in your trees…
I rarely sing it. But perhaps we will do it next week, as the season is upon us and blowing baritone trees…
Go sit in the shade of the Bonny tree while children play under its branches-you make necklaces from its flourishing berries.
Forests are stress Relievers
Trees are Pain Relievers
Native American healers led the way in pain relief.
For example, willow bark (the bark of a tree) is widely known to have been ingested as an anti-inflammatory and pain reliever.
It contains a chemical called salicin,
which is a confirmed anti-inflammatory
that, when consumed, generates salicylic acid –
the active ingredient in modern-day aspirin tablets.
TREES ARE US
Are trees people who don't walk?
The Socrateaa exorrhiza is a tree that can Walk; one of its intriguing features is its mobility.
This tree can move slowly up to 2-3 cm (0.79-1.18 inches) per day.
The tree's unique roots, protruding at an angle from the trunk into the ground, are what move the tree.
As the tree roots settle in the new soil
As the tree bends patiently toward the new roots, the old roots slowly lift into the air.
The tree is seeking more sunlight.
TREES ARE US
I have quite a few songs about trees, perhaps a forest, of unsung songs… some various scraps of which appear here.