The Touch "small tweaks", A Sonnet Options

[Larry]

The Touch

Their soundless screams reverberate with grief
that pierces hearts for all the centuries
of fading life. While scions, stem and leaf,
lie crushed beneath their ancient weight. No breeze

shall herald new beginnings in the spring
or sculpt the emerald crowns upon each head.
Strong bastions from the storms that summer brings
are laid in waste. Small denizens have fled

their home and larder, solace now denied
by death. No songs will greet the morn’ to surge
in airy heights, where once the swallow plied.
A mournful sound, as though a quiet dirge

now permeates this devastated glade
created from the touch of soulless blade.


L10 did begin with "to all".

L9 did read: by death. No songs to greet the morn’ converge

[Larry]

Hi Syl & Lori,

Thanks for the visit/read/comments. Sylvia, it was very tough to watch the devastation but not being an owner of the land, there was little I could say about it. Hope your stepdaughter's husband is better.

Lori, thanks for the input and I have been mulling over your suggestion for a few days and believe I've arrived at a suitably strong revision to "for all". I just wanted to make it clear that the clear cutting deprived every creature (including man) from the enjoyment of nature and being a tiny part of something beautiful. Check out the change; hope it's strong enough.

Larry