On the felling of the poplar tree outside my window

This morning they came and cut down the tall poplar tree outside my window. It didn’t exactly come as an unexpected blow; I had been preparing for it for the better part of a week, ever since I noticed the safety tape stretched around the tree and an ominous-looking sign nailed to the trunk. I then promptly wrote an alarming message to my councilman, who wrote back with nothing useful; on my own,…