Burn the Rulebook, Save the Trees

ironic, isn’t it —
how many forests fell
to print the regulations
meant to save them?

bureaucracy breeds
on dead trees
multiplying forms
in triplicate
while saplings
beg for light

here’s a better policy:
plant questions
instead of answers
grow doubt
in place of doctrine

let moss be
your new mandate
let wind write
your constitution
let rain edit
your legislation

when they demand
environmental impact statements
show them
a butterfly’s wing
a spider’s web
a child’s wonder

their sustainability metrics
cannot measure
the worth of one
wild morning

see how nature
ignores their permits
dandelions crack concrete
without filing forms
birds build nests
without zoning approval
rivers change course
without committee consent