Deep underground, where sun doesn’t go,
and people haven’t been, and nothing will grow,
is the root of a money tree.
Even deeper still, the root grows thicker and darker and strong.
The tree grows past all the people who it did wrong.
Past the hare and the turf and the gravel,
the root of the money tree begins to unravel.
It gives off shoots and blossoms despite no light,
and grows all the time, every day and every night.
The people above don’t hear or see
the roots of the money tree that won’t set them free.
They paw at the branches and pull at the leaves
hitting and kicking and acting like thieves.
Above where the sun shines and people go about their day
the tall, thick money tree continues to sway.
Back and forth and up and down, the money tree gives its shade to the ground.
That is, after all, where the first leaf was found.
The people don’t see what danger they’re in.
The money tree stays quiet and lets their heads spin.
“How did this tree get here?” the people cry
Pg. 2
while the rest of the world goes awry.
The money tree goes very far down.
It reaches and moves and doesn’t make a sound.
No one would know the danger they face
unless they saw the origin of the money tree and that awful, terrible place.
See the money tree is old, it goes very far back.
It saw before the moon walk and Columbus and fire, it remembers when it was all black.
Then along came Good and made people, the perfect subjects for the tree’s ferocious plan:
Take their good nature and watch the fall of man.
“In the beginning”, a good place to start.
Adam and Eve, perfect for the part.
The money tree had no time to waste
It only took one prompting and their spotlessness was erased.
The money tree works much the same way today as it did back then.
It can play its dirty game again and again.
Grab your attention and never let it go.
Give it some time, the feeling will grow.
The more you love yourself the more you’ll forget
what others have done for you, how much you’re in debt.
The money tree is insidious and only needs fertile ground to grow.
If you aren’t careful, you’ll start a garden and not even know.
Say your prayers and don’t let your soul out of sight
because the money tree grows without any light.
Maggie Harbrecht is, among many things, a student and a novice writer. She lives on a hill in Pittsburgh (as most Pittsburghers do) and finds inspiration in religion, medicine, and the kingdom Animalia.