Urban Crime

They cut down the mulberry tree

Her only crime, having the audacity

To invade a public space

To paint the soles of passers by

Nature doing what nature does best

Making beauty of the mundane

Sheltering, nurturing, nourishing

I delighted in my discovery

On a stroll one afternoon

Looking down I saw the fruit

In patchy blotches

Purple black

Crushed under busy feet

Discarded, disregarded and despised

Looking up I saw the branches

Laden with ripe and ripening berries

Bountiful and overburdened

She had no choice but to let some go

The soft ripe fruit splashed to the street below

Exploding on impact

Releasing their sweet and tangy juice

In wine coloured stains on the pavement

The canopy was lush and green

Shading the path from the sun and echoing with birdsong

Birds, summoned by the promise of a meal

Serenaded the suburb with their gratitude

As I passed by daily

I would steal a morsel of the bounty for myself

Pluck a handful of ripe berries

And savour them on my way

But in this urban landscape

A crime so heinous as defiling the pavement

Staining new shoes

Luring wildlife and encouraging them

To compete with the rattle of traffic and trams

Is not to be tolerated

Off with her head

I walked by today to find

No shading canopy from the overhead sun

No tasty berries to devour on my stroll

No birds singing overhead or fruit crushing underfoot

The only reminder of her previous majesty

A chest high stump

And the blackening stains

On a small section of otherwise grey pavement