At a loss, they'd gone to the park for respite and a moment's breath,

Hoping for a chance anew

Hoping to escape the death

That shattered the town into two

They gazed up at the great thing before them with a soft sigh and a smile,

A moment of peace between the instances of war they had waged

And for some time it was silent, but then they felt rising bile

At the sight of something that had them enraged

The tree that must have once stood tall

Now looked almost wilted, a sickly sheen upon its bark

They stared up at it, at a loss for words as they watched a single leaf fall

They looked down at the thing, so small among the large world, so fragile in all-consuming dark

They started out, reaching for it,

But pulled away at the last moment, glancing

down with a soft gaze of memories that before their eyes flit,

The sort of gaze meant for Nature's once gentle song and dancing

But, now... now what was there to do?

What was there to do when they could see the impacts already starting to brew?