CHIPKO - 1978

They set off singing and with drums
close together in the pre-dawn grey
summon courage on the winding path.

Their feet talk to the dry cracked earth
where other trees once stood. Dust
blows determination in their eyes and mouths.

She lays her cheek against the knobbly bark
wraps arms around its years of growth
listens to sap rising, leaf-speak, green,

tries not to see Amrita Devi , axed down
with her arms about a tree. Her small heart
set against the strength of money.

The loggers are felled to silence at the sight:
bright saris flower against each dark trunk;
the forest, a garden of women.