How to Kill a Tree

It takes much time to kill a tree.
First you have to stop communicating.
The more you communicate
the more it flowers.
Stop the blush on the petals.
Then block it
so that, come storm or wind,
the leaves do not fly to your door.
Then, for god’s sake,
stop meeting it.
Every time you meet a tree
its roots grow deeper.
Then spread slander about the tree,
about how its branches grew
without your permission.
Then wait.
Waiting is essential,
for the tree will uproot itself.
Once it has tasted blood
it will not be satisfied with water.
It will wrench itself from the earth,
vomit all the sap.
The tree will become a tiger.
Then all you have to do
is to take out a gun and shoot it.
Or, if you want a real slow death,
send it to a sanatorium.
Madness is next to lovelessness
and nobody wants an insane tree
in the backyard.

* The first line is taken from Gieve Patel’s poem “On Killing a Tree”. From Balconies of Time (Hawakal 2017)