An Umbrella Tree Poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar

As an umbrella without an umbrella,
A tree stands under the Sun all the day,
Serving you and me as an umbrella.
Giving oxygen and sucking poison,
A tree clears the air for us to breathe.
Offering its all parts to all animals,
Does it demand anything in return?
With no shield to defend with, nor a sword
To offend with, it stands for our mercy.
We are indebted to plants much more than
To animals and humans for our lease.
To kill it is to murder it, a crime.
To be ungrateful to it is a sin.
To dig your own grave is the biggest fun.

Be a tree for each house, planted and grown.
Be a tree for each child, to grow along.
Things made of wood be gone out of demand,
With carpenters rehabilitated.
New roads be cut with pits made for trees.
Like orphanage, stray trees may get a home.
Youngsters, unless you resolve it with faith,
The world to the future will have no mirth.
24.05.2008