What if we planted trees
Our urban spaces aren’t places for people
We get sick and sad, we go mad
Sucking in polluted air from grey streets
We need to leave the cars, make room for leaves
Turn our urban jungle from grim to green
Make it live, make it breathe, be serene.
What if we planted trees?
Scientists in studies the world over
Show us with numbers we need to hear
We’re better people with trees.
We hurt less, suffer less, do less harm
We’re calmer, kinder, cooler in the shade
No need for the air conditioning
That ironically helps us heat the planet.
Safer in the shade, cut down the cancer
Grow more trees. Forest our minds
Towards better mental health.
We need nature to feel whole and well
But what we do to ourselves
Is build hell, deny what gives us life
We make our strife, unhappiness is rife
Pouring tarmac over everything, we wonder why
Our souls are hungry
For a softer way, a gentle route through our days
Walk slowly to your job, enjoy the view
Live a few minutes distance from everything
That makes a daily life for you
Amble there sweetly, saunter beneath trees.
What if we stopped telling stories
About the gadgets we hope will save us
Rescued ourselves from our mistakes
With orchards where car parks used to be
And playground groves for children
Cities where people can live peacefully.
What if we plant more trees?
(Rob Hopkins has been asking ‘What If?’ which led me to write this. More on his website https://www.robhopkins.net/ )
