Ah, Ghostly Pine

Ah, ghostly pine that stands alone
In barren waste of mountains.
Where once grew forests green and rank*
Where once gushed crystal fountains.

There are no branches on your trunk.
From you they have been taken.
They could not stand the strain you stood.
When by winds you were shaken.

The water down the canyons roars
When heavy rain is falling.
All filled with muddy sediment,
The sight is quite appalling.

The mat of leaves and straw and grass
When forests here were growing
Absorbing the rain as it fell
Kept rivers from o'erflowing

Along came man with saw in hand
Destroying game and timber.
With him came also forest fires
With glowing flame and ember.

The flames spread o'er the forest floor.
The dry leaves burned like tinder.
And leaping up into the trees
It burned with none to hinder.

The wind came whistling through the crown
Each dying blaze renewing.
Ah ruthless man your carelessness
Has been your own undoing.

The forests were a gift of God
With wildlife in them playing.
Now man for your destructiveness
The penalty is paying.

Vester Cooper
c 2008, Vester Cooper Trust. All rights reserved.

*This may be a different word. The handwriting is unclear.