Jackfruit Tree

( A monologue for a play in progress )
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I am the Jackfruit tree
He wants to axe down
Don't cry for me
It's your final countdown

I have been standing here
For a hundred odd years
Before this street
And this house was here

Some stupid property dispute
One brother gets the land
The other wants to chop me!
After years of giving. . Seriously !

It seems my wood will fetch more
than my annual fruit crop
People are greedy
No logic will make them stop

It's seems he is my owner!
Because he raised me!
For years he ate my fruit
And breathed my fresh air
Suddenly it dawns on him
To make some tables and chairs

I am a home for some
A food source for many
Neither did he water
Or spend on me a penny

I have seen his
Grandfather as a child
He thought I was cool
And played in my shade
His father also loved me
And ate my fruits after school

If you do the accounts
His lifetime would not be enough
To repay my loans
And this fellow has the audacity
To say "he take what he owns"

I am not afraid to die
I have lived a life of purpose
I don't know about him
But I had enough of this human circus

Some of my brothers
Became school benches
Others were not so lucky
Ended up as war trenches

Some were cut down
To make way for the road
Others were not so lucky
Because of pollution overload

Some became holy books
Some became mighty ships
Some became jazzy carvings
Some became simple woodchips

Some were nailed alive
To make tree houses
Others just for
Stapling posters

The day will come
When you won't have air to breathe
Then you will slave
for my children's upkeep

I am the Jack Fruit tree
He want to axe down
Don't cry for me
It's your final countdown
(Written by Jibrael Jos )