Avarice 2018-C by Austin Stern

by Mason Street In Uncategorized

Prayer

I ask forgiveness from the trees

I have killed their kin and

lived in the bones of their family

Sometimes at night I hear their moans

in my wooden house

I have killed them and taken their land

to grow my soybeans and cotton

I have killed them and taken their land

as pasture for my cattle

I burn them and rejoice in

the warmth and comfort

I bury them cradling my dead

in coffins

I use them to hang bodies in

lynching and crucifixions

I use them to make my tools

ladders, handles and barrels

I once made plank roads and bridges

and ships from their bodies

I use them to make my music

violins, cellos and pianos

And never give them thanks

never a moment’s gratitude

Even in prayer I seem unable

to move beyond my insatiable “I”

I ask forgiveness of the trees.