There before the house,

you were condemned for daring

to undermine it.

Cut down bit by bit:

limbs lopped off one at a time,

then your great trunk felled.

I knew of your fate

and so avoided getting

too attached to you.

Even so I still

felt sad at the thought of it.

It didn’t seem right.

On the fateful day

I tried not to watch as you

were cruelly butchered.

But the sound of saws

was inescapably loud

and the pain got through.