Unchopping a Tree

Theres no mystery to chopping down a tree. But how do you put back together a tree thats been felled? Mystical instructions are required, and thats what W. S. Merwin provides in his prose piece “Unchopping a Tree, appearing for the first time in a self-contained volume. Written with a poets grace, an ecologists insights, and a Buddhists reverence for life, this elegant work describes the difficult, sacred job of reconstructing a tree. Step by step, page by page, with Merwins humble authority, secrets are revealed, and the destroyed tree rises from the forest floor. Unchopping a Tree opens with simplicity and grace: “Start with the leaves, the small twigs, and the nest that have been shaken, ripped, or broken off by the fall; these must be gathered and attached once again to their respective places. W. S. Merwin, like many conservationists, is quick to say: “When we destroy the so-called natural world around us were simply destroying ourselves. And I think its irreversible. Thus the tree takes on a scale that begs the readers compassion, and one tree is a parable for the restoration of all nature.