Editor's Choice
Guy's poem refers to a recent piece of wanton vandalism: a much-photographed tree near Hadrian'a Wall in the north of England was mindlessly cut down, to national outrage. A teenager and an adult have been arrested.
 Before |  After |
The tree stood like a sentry by Hadrian's Wall
in a valley between two hills
for well over a century.
In winter it was adorned with snow
surviving countless northern gales
until with an act of senseless destruction
it was sawn through. Then the tree surgeons came
to cart away the once magnificent specimen.
Yes now the scene is forlorn,
just a memory only existing
in many thousands of photographs.
They will probably plant another tree
but we'll not see it grow to its full height
and admire its form... on a star-filled night.
in a valley between two hills
for well over a century.
In winter it was adorned with snow
surviving countless northern gales
until with an act of senseless destruction
it was sawn through. Then the tree surgeons came
to cart away the once magnificent specimen.
Yes now the scene is forlorn,
just a memory only existing
in many thousands of photographs.
They will probably plant another tree
but we'll not see it grow to its full height
and admire its form... on a star-filled night.
To illustrate what we'll be missing, here's a little treat for you all.
