A Mangrove

A Mangrove

Is so much more than a tree

In the sea,

Proudly it stands

Branches spread wide

The world in its hands

Landlocked at low tide

So many have died

Cut down for Marinas

And reclamation

It is not just the Amazon

Land clearance

Or global deforestation

More CO2 is removed

From the atmosphere

Here in this bay

By one Mangrove tree

In one day

Than ten in a rainforest,

Locked away

Underground for millennia

Good for the earth

The greenhouse effect

Not reversed

But checked

To give more time

For other solutions

To global warming

Heed the warning

Let it grow

Stop the dredging

It creates a riptide

With an undertow

Dragging trees out

Into the sea

Until CO2 is released

Into the air

Choking the world

And stripping it bare

It will be too late then

To say that you care.