Man Of The Forest

• Amy Harris, Grade 9
• Poetry
• 2014

Wild and free, catapulting from branch to branch
Fury and adorable just like a hairy human baby
Tucked away in the muscular arms of its parents
Kept away, safe and sound from the predators that trespass their tangled terrain.
Far in the distance a noise echoes through the leafy, plain and plaited planks, billions of age
Metal machines and enormous engines roar through the depths of the Borneo jungle
Devastating deforestation and animal cruelty are the least worries on the loggers mind.
Tick by the clock and chop goes the tree
Crashed and trashed to then plant palm trees
A dollar a dead as this land is cleared and then reused to plant the palm tree
The orange palm seed is then crushed and mashed into an oil only to be used for facial boils
Chocolates, cheeses and crackers this oil is made into
It is all a big secret, which only pleases the greedy smiles, who own those millions.
As this peaceful family hideaway in their tree
A hunter snaps a twig and alarms the mother of its young
But before she can blink a bullet as fast as lightning is released into the humid air of the jungle
As she inhales her last gulp of air, it has hit her rough skin
Then she leaves this terrifying world to sleep in her anger and rage.
Leaving the young an orphan, helpless and hopeless in the big wide world
As he clutches his mother, he is pulled and thrown into the cold box of bars he could now call home
Like a dungeon of deep darkness and death.
All he hopes, as it looks into the red eyes of its mother’s killer, is that one day his race will be saved by someone loving and kind. Will that be you he asks?
Extinction is forever.