The Bald Cypress
By Robin Lee Shelby
Once stood virgin bald cypress trees
Sentinels of the swamp
Thousands of years old
Close to ten feet wide
Wood grown in wet climes
Building material for the time
Catfish spawn in submerged hollow logs
Upon their limbs Spanish Moss grows
And eagles nest in the tree tops
Used this growth
For dugout pirogues, their homes and furniture
Later they were turned into railroad ties
With lumbermen
Establishing company towns
To harvest this resource
When the trees were all hewn
The towns became villages
With abandoned ruins
And grow to this day
I could take you there
This is where I was raised
