APRIL-7

THE LONELY ACACIA

                                              courtesy : Google image

It was a long dark journey

For a drop of life     

It drank flame with leafy mouths

To be the light

 The Tree of Ténéré*

Was the living lighthouse

To the wayfarers of sands

It was a solitary tree

That behaved like a tree

With no pretensions

Like Lithops Julli**

Nomads revered it

 No man dared hurt it

The stars forgot to twinkle

When the drunk truck-man

Knocked it down

*Tree of Ténéré, was a solitary acacia, of either Acacia raddiana^[1] or Acacia tortilis,^[2] that was once considered the most isolated tree on Earth^[3]—the only one for over 400 kilometres (250 mi). It was a landmark on caravan routes through the Ténéré region of the Sahara in northeast Niger.

**Some plants use toxins to avoid being eaten. Some use thorns, or turn into carnivores. The Lithops Julli survives by pretending to be a rock

 Posted for Open Link Monday @ Real Toads