Poor Wordsworth. There’s no rest for a mouse poet who writes poems to save trees. I sent him to the Sacramento County Supervisors Office when I heard about a group going in to save the majestic oaks trees that are being destroyed to make room for swimming pools and other home improvements. I hope Wordsworth! Stop the Bulldozer! makes a difference.
Wordsworth was thrilled to be in this photo with Mr. James Schbert, Senior Landscape Architect for the County and Mr. Howard Schmidt, Chief of Staff for Supervisor Susan Peters. Way to go, Wordsworth.
The Bulldozer
there was a place I sat and wrote
to music played in my concert grove.
branches rubbed against branches,
coconuts dropped to the ground.
vines snaked and squeaked their way
seeking the hot noon sun.
frilly fronds danced the wind,
lacy limbs brushed their leaves.
sparrows, mynahs spattered notes
low c’s, high c’s and in-between.
it was a place for violins, cellos,
trombones, flutes, and piccolos, too.
Oh, what music to my ears.
Then the monster came.
gachump!
gachump!
gachump!
he gobbled up notes
oh, what a beast.
he chomped and crushed,
grunted and groaned,
belched and gobbled
everything in sight.
oh, what a monster,
oh what a beast
to eat my trees.
to eat my trees.
Wordsworth fell asleep thinking, “Gachump, Gachump.”
from Wordsworth! Stop the Bulldozer! by frances kakugawa Watermark Publishing
“I would want someone to be nice to Emily,” thinks Wordsworth. So he and his friends, Eliot and Dylan, invite Akiko to teach them about Japanese poetry. And what a good thing, too, because it is Akiko who has a clever idea to save the neighborhood trees from being knocked down.