Personal

Death of a tree

Here's another image from Monday: the continued slow death of my favourite tree.

The tree that was covered with such beautiful carvings has now fallen victim to graffiti of a different sort. Across three of the stumps, someone's lazily daubed self-centred messages. These cheap white lines contrast starkly to the careful declarations of love cut into the bark.

I'm reminded of hip-hop and rap. I'm sure there's a subtle distinction between the two, but in my mind it goes like this: hip-hop talks about us and our place in the world; rap serves only to promote the individual. Hip-hop is Ms Dynamite, rap is Eminem. Hip-hop is the crafted carvings obliterated by the mindless splash of rap.

Maybe the paint will wash off. Maybe it doesn't matter - the tree is doomed anyway. A last glance suggests I'm not the only one who'll miss the tree. There, amongst the flowers shooting up from the tree's base, is one new, final carving.

"A.D 2004".