Skeletal Monument Poem by john tiong chunghoo

now you know
why i stand so tall
covering the earth
in a swath of green hope
swaying in triumph
and showering praises
whenever time is good

now you know why i
stand so tall
for in my hands
are the earth, the
human race and
the whole
animal kingdom

when i go, they
too have to follow suit,
we breathe each others' air
and share each others' food

my lips sigh in relief
every time the sun has set
and the gently wind blows
for that means the world
is in light spirits, and in
good hands

for if I am left
uncared for, abused
and rapped,
my leaves would each
take leave

one by one they
would politely bid
a quiet goodbye
and heartachingly
swirl away in their
last swan song

when the last leaf
takes its leave
i will be but a sore
and broken woman
emaciated hands,
and fingers pointing
to a lost heaven

when the human kind
ungratefully runs me down

my leaves will cry and
dropp till all that remains
are row after row of
a skeletal monument
to commemorate
the earth demise and
a lost salvation