The Saddest Tree

Here is a tree so old, each limb could represent a decade of its life. In the early 1800s, passing Vaqueros would have rested under its branches for shade. Farmers and migrants worked the fields around its base. From Californias annexation to the Watts Riots. This 600 year old sycamore tree has witnessed all. 

 The Eagle tree taken in 1952

The Eagle tree present day Compton, CA 2019

Visiting the tree for the first time I stared up at its grotesquely pruned canopy. It had become cluster-fucked between Pepto-Bismol colored apartments. The tree looked totally defeated. Did residents even care?