Big Woods: A Prayer on the Eve of Logging
by Will Danforth
My prayer is for this plot of land
And for the trees that round me stand;
For those the logger’s saw will leave
Prostrate to greet the morrow’s eve.
My prayer is for the creatures here
That bury below and fly above it;
I log it not for gain or gold,
I log it because I love it.
I pray the ground is frozen well,
The giant tires merciful;
I pray the logger knows his trade
And by my goals aligns his blade.
I pray the destruction I must own
Will spur creation ten times over
And like the phoenix will become
More beautiful than ever.
I pray to live for years enough
To see the smooth moss clear the rough,
To walk the logger’s paths till worn
And share with children yet unborn
My love of the giants that I released,
My awe before a branched tower,
The praise I have for the force that through
The green fuse drives the flower.