The Trees Screamed

I didn't know
trees
could scream.
I knew they could be killed,
but I didn't know
they could scream --
until today.

I last saw the trees
that were to be killed
on Monday.
Two days past.

They lived
on Waialae Avenue
In front of
a school.

There were eleven.
They liked
hearing young people laugh.
And the brids sang
in them.

One,
a tired old palm,
was a friend.
He watched my car
each day
as I parked near him.
When,
a gentle breeze reminded him
he would dip
a frond to me.
And,
I knew trees
could smile.
Today,
I learned that he
and
his companions
are all dead.
I got the news
from a young woman near tears.
She told me,
"They didn't go quietly,
They were not
killed
by a quick cut.
They were
bludgeoned
to death."

"Some of those trees
took
a long time to die.
They were struck
repeatedly by a
bulldozer."

She continued,
"The bulldozer was
in a rage roaring,
belching angry
black smoke."

I knew then
that what she had
felt/heard
was trees
screaming.

She must have listened closely.
You have to listen closely
to hear those screams
over the rage.
Later,
when I told my wife,
what the young woman
felt/heard,
She too was stunned.
From her sharp
intake of breath
and, whispered
"oh no!"
I knew
she/felt heard
the trees
screaming
like the young woman.

Our lives are saddened
by the loss.
How can people
make trees
scream?

I think we all heard the trees scream...I know I did....It was a great loss for us all who had so many good memories with those trees..-Sara