Once upon a short time ago...
(where surely a tiny seed from the bamboo forest of the river of long ago...
had set itself by the handiwork of God into the ground and grew)
lived a behemoth of a bamboo tree...
who had grown to about 50 feet high and 30 feet wide at the bottom
this tall, tall grass looked mighty grand in her splendor of lovely leaves...
and she whistled and creaked as her long reaching limbs swayed...
with the tropical warm breezes
we named her, Godzilla
with her dinosaur shape...her head with her open mouth...
and tiny arms to the left...
her humped back reaching for the sky...
and her tail on the right...
we couldn't think of any other name
she gloriously filled a very large space and stood watching over the large garden...
by the chicken coop
perhaps, she watched over the garden a little too closely...
giving it more shade than was needed for the crops
but, oh, how I did love her so...
my dearly beloved Godzilla bamboo
the birds took refuge in her...
lizards scampered up and down her...
and I daresay...
an occasional manicou (opossum) scooted around her feet through the night
and then one dreaded day...
it was decided she must come down
she grew by the day and was bent on taking over more space than she was allowed
we really did try to keep her...
and tried our best to keep her managed...
but, she was wild and did not care to be tamed
when a stiff wind would come through...
Godzilla would thrash her long leafy arms quite violently...
and sometimes even throw one down a little too close to the chicken coop
so, with reluctance...
my farm guy and his helper gave her a fitting funeral pyre...
and as beautiful as the fire was...
all I could think was, "ouch"
"sigh"
really, that did hurt
Godzilla bamboo is now just a shadow of herself...
her feet lying in ashes...
and the little cottage looks lonely without her to gaze upon...
where once the little cottage's resident would stand to see Godzilla waving...
her long arms in the breeze as if to say "good morning to you" in the early dawn
and the little cottage's resident looks longingly where once...
dearly beloved Godzilla bamboo stood so gloriously in all her green splendor
and while the little cottage's resident is contemplating on Godzilla's demise...
Shadow Boy is setting his contemplation on other things
he is much more interested in what's on his left towards the starfruit trees
yeah...a little too interested
here's holding on to you, Shadow Boy...
to keep you out of trouble...
and our sweet little kids out of your jaws
as for the space where Godzilla once stood...
it is now looking forlorn
and now, when I would like to see tall bamboo trees...
I stand on the hill behind the cottage...
and look out over the river below and see just how lovely a bamboo forest looks
from the hill, I can see the tops of the bamboo trees...
together, they give an illusion of softness
as for Godzilla...
well, it is harder to kill a big bamboo tree than one would think
even by fire
some day, she will sprout green shoots from her feet...
but, this time...she will be tame and even more beautiful
As for the children of God...
The words of the Lord are pure words:
as silver tried in a furnace of earth,
purified seven times.
Thou shalt keep them, O Lord,
thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
Psalms 12:6,7
May your day or night be preserved in the grace of God.
