ARBOR DAY by Waverly Vernon

I declare / this Arbor Day a day of / celebration / of / clearing / burning / taking / First observed in Nebraska / 1872 / they planted the first trees / so the pioneers wouldn’t / melt / bleed / burn / to death / on the plains they / stole / Today we call that / preservation. / Today we say: / We honor the beauty / of God’s creation / while / leasing it / to Shell / auctioning it / to Koch / offering it tax-free / to BlackRock / while / bulldozers groan / in Yosemite’s gut / while / Yellowstone swells / with seismic drills / while / Bears Ears / bleeds / Quietly / We don’t protect forests / We manage them / like spreadsheets, / like brown children, / like water rights in Flint / “Active forest management” / means / scorched policy / thinned oversight / fattened wallets / It means / cutting fuel / felling ancient redwoods/ to make patio furniture / for $2.99/hour labor / It means / responsible stewardship / leasing 2.2 million acres / of national forest / to companies / who promise / to “tread lightly” / with chainsaws / Arbor Day / A holiday of contradiction / Celebrate the oak / but / deny it water / reroute its river / sell the soil beneath it / pave the path around it / and declare / victory / over vegetation / The parks? / The forests? They are already dead. Taxidermied on postcards. Replicated in VR / gated / patrolled / defended by / private security firms / whose boots / crush seedlings / sprouting in protest / You want to camp / pay / You want to hike / register / You want to pray / apply for a permit / You want to protect / get arrested / We protect public land / by privatizing it / We honor Indigenous sovereignty / by ignoring it / We plant / saplings / while digging / oil wells / behind them / So today / America / plant a tree / so we can watch it die / plant it / in the shadow of a smokestack / on land slated for lithium extraction / next to a shuttered ranger station / guarded by a drone / and when your grandchildren ask / what a forest felt like / show them the barcode / show them the logging permit / show them the Arbor Day proclamation / in gold trim / tell them you were there / tell them you clapped / tell them you believed it was about trees

Waverly Vernon is a writer and interdisciplinary artist currently studying at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, focusing on writing and ceramics. Their work spans poetry and interdisciplinary art, exploring femininity, demonization of their sexuality, resilience, religious deprogramming, and trauma. What began as a personal refuge has grown into a means of connection, inviting readers to share in these explorations. Poetry is no longer just a tool for self-understanding; it builds bridges between shared and disparate experiences, contributing to the broader literary and artistic landscape. Their poetry has been or will be featured in various publications, including Moonstone Arts Center, Acorn Review Literary Journal, Wildscape Literary Journal, Assignment Literary Magazine, Creation Magazine, and Arcana Poetry Press.