The Tallest Trees

[ A Poem On World Power ]


The tallest trees in every town
are dead ones
with crossed beams
of wood
braced with iron
carrying branches
of strung-out wires.

The tallest trees in every town
are upright
with a harsh rule
sometimes of concrete
reinforced with steel
bringing electricity
to line-up,to enervate the towns.

The tallest trees in every town
are dumb soldiers
parading in grid rows
like gallows planted
the twentieth century’s
equal of crosses
along Roman control roads.

The tallest trees in every town
are cruxes higher
than the steeples
than the true hopes
and aspirations
of the peoples
as holy dreams are overpowered
by the tallest trees in every town.


1986 © Wayne David Knoll, Trentham, Victoria, Australia

first published 1990 in ‘Wasteland’ literary magazine, Oakleigh, Victoria, Australia