Life and Island Times April 7 2016

Nick, the tree cutter, and his Caring Tree Company crew, was back in the hood yesterday. Next door neighbor Wisconsin had yet another diseased tree, a 50 year old Royal Poinciana, which required removal. The tree had been beset with ground termites, fatal fungal diseases and strangling, variegated philodendron vines.

As before with his job on the Two Sisters, Nick took the safety of crew as Job #1. This had impressed Marlow. Nick was strict regarding his crew’s not working too fast, constant hydration, frequent breaks, changing job assignments, so no one would get tired or careless. Nick went well beyond what the law and common sense dictated. These are hallmarks of excellence.

When Nick ascended to the tree top in his truck’s hydraulic bucket lift, he tested the Poinciana’s stability to withstand the coming assault. He wanted to be sure that it could safely be dismantled without endangering the passersby, surrounding houses and cars, and his equipment. He gently took a rather large branch and torqued it clockwise and counterclockwise about the main trunk’s axis.

What Nick found was shocking. The entire tree twisted easily 10-15 degrees in each direction under his gentle guidance. The tree was a mostly hollow hulk.

When the first major limb came down and was bucked, 6 inch gauge branches had less than 2 inches of wood under the bark. It was a major miracle that the tree had not fallen during the past three years of heavy winds and rain. This discovery turned a day and half job into a two plus day endeavor

There was no way out for this tree. This phrase turned Marlow’s thoughts to his cousin’s child, Jessica. This vibrant 25 year old had recently died by suicide on the past Sunday.

Someone who dies by suicide sees no way out. It’s similar to someone trapped in a burning skyscraper who jumps. Jessica, Marlow believes, saw no way out and she “jumped.” She likely felt things were never ever getting better.

Jessica hung herself. Hanging is one of the most painful ways to go. It has recently become the most common way to die by one’s own hand in England and its former colonies like Bermuda, where Jessica was born and lived. Her lifeless body was discovered by her longtime partner Matthew. What Matthew saw is unfathomable. Marlow will not share the details or opine on them, other than to say this . . .

Maybe those you left behind will view
The pieces we put together of you
Of a wholeness, that you broke
Makes us wail and hoarsely croak

Of that ligature you put ‘round your neck
It cut the anchor line securing you to life’s deck
A life you rendered as a tithe
To your gloom and Death’s scythe

Matthew gazed upon your lovely face, blue and displaced
No one knew the darkness that you faced.
Perhaps this disfigurement is your artistry
Opening up the inside we couldn’t see.

Perhaps we’ll see it and silently yell
As we deal with the art of your hell
Nothing can restore and balm your broken life
We’ll gather and remember the good from the midst of your strife

Jessica Wakefield

Copyright © 2016 From My Isle Seat