An Act Of Man

The old gum was a hundred years and more It was a babe in eighteen ninety four And last week the Council Workers cut it down Too old a tree to be left live in town. The tree surgeon had reported it unsound And signs of ageing and disease he found But when cut down it looked healthy and green And not one sign of disease to be seen. A job well done all the Council did agree And those who came to mourn for the tree Were informed the giant was dangerous and too old And human life is precious they were told. The Mayor who ordered the tree felled on advice Was told by some he had made the wrong choice But he found a way out and to save face Had young gum planted in the old gum's place. A possum family lived on that old tree And parrot had her nest in cavity But protection of wild life not in the Council's plan And they are victims of 'an act of man'. The old gum was a hundred years and more It was a babe in eighteen ninety four But deemed too old and dangerous for the town Last week the Council Workers cut it down.