The difference in just one-hundred miles west of here!
Majestic longleaf pines toil, East Texas
denizens,
Catered to by diesel haulers; laid down, cutting clear
Paths; power poles, load stacked trees, clear-cut for new horizons.
Some slated as raw goods for oil sharp saw mills sprung, root
And wrung along rural roads; rough piled, deposited;
Soil sunk under the weight of wood in yards, waiting; soot
Soaring skyward, departing trucks spewing, soon headed
Home, loaded with offerings of new polished craft pews.
Emerald needles turned tea color color streams brown;
Plush pine carpeting, swine delight: roots, wrecks, souse and spews;
Hog heaven! girdling scent markings rub raw forests down.
Hunters emanate, set baited traps, the copse embank;
A carved corpus on the cross; the people pray and thank.
Gary Edward Geraci