Oak Tree

by Rob Schoppert

I was the tallest tree in the woods.  An oak among oaks.  I've had animals chewing on me,
woodpeckers pecking me, and squirrels living in me.  I've been through storms and still stood.

Recently, they began cutting down my neighbors with an axe and chainsaw.  Saving me for
last as I was the largest.   I was eventually cut down and made into logs stacked in a pile.  I hoped
to be made into smooth pieces of lumber for building.  Maybe I would be made into a house or
something good.

Instead I was cut into short pieces and sold in a bundle.  So here I lay, beside this stove, waiting
for my turn to go in.  Nothing to be left of me but ashes.  Longing for those proud days of what I
once was - -   the tallest tree in the woods...