To the editor:
Massive trees are dead and dying,
disrupted from their peaceful watch above the gateway into town.
A pitiful art installation mimics an attempt at erosion control.
A yellow machine broods in idle stillness.
It sits foolishly on the hill, mocking the village below.
Month after month the sore festers.
This is an injury inflicted upon the community out of spite.
The perpetrator does not care.
His willful vitriol has been spilled.
He does not believe in ramifications.
Why should he?
The protectors of community interest are missing.
Their voices are stuck in ruts of running disputes.
They refuse action yet demand respect in profane ways.
Some say compellingly that we do not need them.
I wonder if we will miss the nothing that they do?
– Mark Byington, Tryon