THE TREE OF LIFE

1. Gardening in the Tropics was easiest
2. before the Flood. We had just one tree
3. to care for – the firstborn, the Tree
4. of Life. When (after the Great Fire)
5. the earth was bare and we were starving,
6. The Mighty One took pity and planted
7. deep in the interior a tree so
8. ubiquitous it bore on its branches
9. food of every different kind. Mapuri
10. the wild pig discovered it but kept it
11. hidden, sneaking off behind our backs
12. to eat his fill. But we suspected
13. something so we sent our most
14. skilled detectives to make him spill it.
15. First, Woodpecker, but he couldn't help
16. stopping to tap at every charred stump
17. – which alerted Mapuri to our plan;
18. others tried, but it was Rat
19. who succeeded. Of course, Rat being
20. rat, he tried to keep it hidden too,
21. but crumbs on his whiskers betrayed him.
22. We had threatened to kill him before he
23. took us there. In front of this
24. unimaginable tree we fell down and
25. praised Him – and then we ate our fill.
26. After that, we merely had to reach
27. overhead to pluck a nice juicy starapple,
28. then perhaps a naseberry or two
29. before gathering for cooking fresh ears
30. of corn, hot peppers and tomatoes
31. for seasoning, cassava to make bread
32. and drink for celebrating.
33. So imagine our dismay when out of
34. the blue His voice came out one day and said:
35. Cut the Tree Down! We trembled, but obeyed,
36. chopping away for generations
37. until it swayed and fell (water already
38. starting to trickle from the hole left
39. by its root – but that is the start of
40. another tale). He ordered us to take from
41. the branches slips and cuttings and plant
42. them everywhere. And that is how we
43. acquired crops for cultivating. From
44. that time, I've been a convert of
45. mixed farming though, of late, I've
46. noticed the agricultural officers
47. (those long-sleeved white-shirt boys)
48. have been coming around to try and
49. persuade us to chop everything down
50. and plant only one crop. They say we can
51. get more money that way – from exporting.
52. But it's only the young ones they fool.
53. It's true they're all driving fancy cars
54. now, they have tractors, big houses,
55. are sending children to school. But let
56. them wait till drought or blight
57. comes round. What will they eat?
58. You see me here? I'm sticking to the plan
59. of having all my food, my seasonings and
60. medicines mixed up in one ground. For if
61. He wanted us to plant just one thing
62. in the garden, why did He make us chop
63. The Tree of Life down?