Why is a Redwood Red?
“Parasites” from the perspective of a Redwood Tree
I am a Redwood tree
I have wood that is red
Why am I red?
It was in the past
When I was a small plant
I witness the most terrifying things
Terrifying monster appeared out of the sky
It was a small bird
I saw the small amount of life I had lived flash before me
It was an incredibly short flash
As the winged destroyer was upon me
A bird-eating tarantula jumped out of the leaves
My predator becomes prey to another
It was then when I learned of Natural Selection
Natural Selection is the law that applies to all
The exception being the bipedal parasites
Invasive species’ first encounter I was a tree
About 100 years of age, I felt invincible
My pride had no effect on these barbaric juggernauts
They stormed into the forest, savageness was obvious
They were not like the other animals
They didn't abide by the rules of nature
They had no respect for our home
The day they came I was with my friends
Oak, Spruce, Peach, and Maple.
We were having our usual discussions about the weather
The invaders came in uninvited with their weapons
They carried the limbs of our siblings
The sticks had metal attached to it
The sight itself was disturbing
But the worst part was that they came to kill
Corpses of our friends were used to fell Oak to the ground
Adding insult to injury, chopped him apart
Carried him off, never to be seen again
We mourned his death, and feared the tyrants
They came again with buckets woven from fibers of plants
We thought, that this was harmless
There was no way that we could be at all harmed by a basket of flowers
But they didn’t come to harm us
They came to torture us
They stole Peach’s children from her grasp
This wasn’t bad in and of itself
Peach’s children are placed in fruit so birds will spread them
Eating peaches dropping seeds
They ignored the entire reason for the fruit
They broke their end of the symbiotic bargain
Peach provides food in exchange for spreading seeds
They left them to die on top the leaves
Peach mourned her children, and was regularly robbed of her children
As my leaves began to fall they returned
They had a tiny wooden bucket and straw made of wood
They hammered the straw into Maples trunk
Her sap dripped out into a bucket hanging from the straw
They used the bodies of our friends to pull out her sap
Her life blood, draining, slowly
Later made into a sweetener, not a food
No benefit except for pleasure!?
Finally winter came, we expected them to hibernate
Ignoring nature's laws they refused hibernation
They continued their rampage, mercilessly razing the forest of coniferous trees
When they came again we knew they were after Spruce
Trying to scare them I rustled my leaves and waved my branches
They ignored my threats, called my bluffs
As a tree I can’t do anything against them
They hacked spruce to the ground
Dragging him away intact, they whooped for joy
I heard mention of the holiday for giving
They were giving Spruce’s corpse as a gift
I know they won’t eat Spruce
They will have no benefit from him
How could a cadaver be a gift?
How can they give what isn’t theirs?
When Maple and Peach failed to provide for the thieves
Punishment was death, they were chopped and burned
Inevitably I knew I would decrease by the hands of the murderers
An numberless horde of these savage beasts came at me from all sides
Sharp blades on wooden limbs, my fate would be the same as what they held
I was a sitting duck?
Nonsense! A sitting duck is safer than me!
They have nested upon my canopy
Flying from danger, idiom of idiocy!
So often they nest on my branches
I know their serene beauty, majestic flight
They could escape the terrors before me
I was rooted to the ground
A rooted plant, that is more correct
They were almost upon me, and yet again my life flashed before me
But this time no spider could save me
I was spared, not by spiders, but by the law
Natural Selection saved me, for the men disobeyed
Justice was corrected upon them for their crimes
As they swung their blades, I was unharmed, untouched
They weapons of war slashed into each other.
This miracle, showed that Natural Selection must be followed.
The law of Natural Selection says the strongest survive.
Those with beneficial traits with will survive and pass their traits down upon other generations, while those with detrimental traits will not pass them on.
The Parasites had a detrimental trait of slaughter
But, when there was nothing left to kill, they fought amongst themselves.
They didn’t notice me, because I was such a big tree, I must have seemed like a mountain to them.
The bloodshed, was immense,
The battle, intense
A massive bloodbath
And none of them lived.
My bark was soaked in the blood of parasites
Now this symbol, I wear upon myself.