I never forget all my four legged friends
Who sniffed and scented me for years on end
Some buried beneath, cuddled in my roots
Coming back again through a few silent shoots





I remember the children who swung from my limbs
So pure, so innocent, a cacophony of hoots and grins
They’ve grown now; no time to pass-by anymore
And I wonder - what’s it all for?





My reach inches higher with the passage of time
While buildings creep closer to the capitalist’s rhyme
Who can say if there are boundaries to greed
The planet came lush way before man’s seed





I watch the young men all heavy with pride
Leave for the glory, righteousness on their side
Some returning, some not, from a fabricated war
And again I wonder - what’s it all for?





I am now surrounded in concrete and soot
The City’s moved in so, I hardly bear fruit
Is this the dividend for years of my toil?
A grave in waiting in alien soil





The wealthy, the poor, the sinner, the broken
Moving below me with hearts unopen
Never stopping to think am I there anymore
And so I wonder – what was it all for?

 

Nick Porcaro – May 2012