Murder of the Olive Trees

I hear the thwack
Of knife on wood
And my blood pressure rises
And I know
Yes, I know that
My neighbour
(Whom we have nicknamed
The Rogue)
Is hacking at our trees

I race to the Hippo Rock
My knife in hand
And yell at him
I yell at the Rogue
Waving my knife about:
Dei
I am coming down there
Right now
To deal with you

Imagine
Imagine the plight
Of the Palestinian farmer
Whose Olive trees are
Being bulldozed by
The Israeli army
(The most moral army in the world)
One hundred and ninety three trees
Bulldozed wholesale:
How does he respond?

And what of Palestine?
Where one million
Yes, one million, and counting
Olive trees have been destroyed
Some kidnapped
To be planted elsewhere
But the majority
Just bulldozed
Bulldozed wholesale
And burnt at the roots
So that they don’t regenerate
(Yes, olive trees are nothing
If not resilient)

How does Palestine respond?
How do I respond?
How do you?
Should we all just go
And pray under
The olive trees
In the Garden of Gethsemane
Like Jesus did?

Look what happened to him!