Cut Down Too Soon Poem by Ifi Amadiume

Cut Down Too Soon
It is simply that you
Are not one of the lucky ones,
I would have told you so,
As I waited and waited all of
Spring for if you recall,
The red thing I once saw
Unexpectedly in the wrong
Season time, as I watched
The slow awakening of the birds
Returning in their pairs and groups.
They seem to know the
To-do list, as we can see
Intricate nests appearing
On selected trees,
Some even daring at summit
Places, so high.

The trees knowingly are welcoming,
I see two others,
One in front of you,
Another at your back,
Branches shooting out, reaching
Widely in a pretend greening,
Scattered here and there.
They know to do the needed
City-space-hustle.
They know to do the needed
Quickie yield,
They answer to the optimization
Rushing call.

And you thinking differently,
Like a cunny tortoise,
Retreating inwardly in to-do reverse.
I would have told you of city
Impatience, were I still near.
You did not do your
To-do list like the birds,
To fill out your greening
Quickly enough,
Early in springtime.
I would have told you
Of fleeting city timing,
Of city people, of their short
Attention span,
Refusing you filling out time,
Cut down too soon,
In prohibitive acts,
Covered in lies.

And you like a cunny tortoise,
Sprouting anew.
I hear you were doing
Your to-do springtime list
Far deep beneath the lines,
Shooting out roots,
Spreading who knows what
Under the surface
Of things!
All of the impatience of
City people that cut you down,
Thinking it's all over now,
But I hear you still
In the rumbling bellow!
I hear you still more loudly!
Your stump, standing,
Rounded like a steady
Native drum beating,
Now the waiting is over,
In a new transformation,
To sound forever, not just
For the greening in springtime! !

(Ifi Amadiume, London, August 1,2019)