Torture

 A Merry Christmas Day poem about trees for Bradley Manning

Torture
© 1986/2010 by Alice Walker

When they torture your mother
plant a tree
When they torture your father
plant a tree
When they torture your brother
and your sister
plant a tree
When they assassinate
your leaders
and lovers
plant a tree
Whey they torture you
too bad
to talk
plant a tree.
When they begin to torture
the trees
and cut down the forest
they have made
start another.

***

From Horses Make a Landscape Look More Beautiful by Alice Walker