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Treeskin

My father had a sawmill on the farm where I grew up,
he built it out of old machinery
he said "if you're gonna cut down a tree and saw it up,
make it into a thing of beauty"

As I grow wiser with my age,
I will find words to fill the empty page
true to the man who raised me
but now I see the skin of a tree and leave the empty page
leave the page empty

I can see the sunlight with eyesight and insight
that made the green leaves greener
I see the bugs that made the bark taste good
and the saw that turned the tree's wood
into lumber, then pulp, then newspaper

And written on the front page:
our country's filled with fear and rage
rage and fear have crashed into our country
but hope is the green in the leaves of a tree
so I'll fill my empty pages with the hope that fills me