Question

It takes much time to kill a tree,
Not a simple jab of the knife
Will do it. It has grown
Slowly consuming the Earth,
Rising out of it, feeding
Upon its crest, absorbing
Years of sunlight, air, water
And out of its leperous hide
Sprouting leaves.​

Answer 1

in the poem on killing a tree the tree is symbol of a deep rooted evil

in these lines the poet Gieve Patel has shown the tree as a parasite which slowly keeps consuming the earth's nutrients .according to the poet so much years of hard work and patients cannot be destroyed by one go so a simple jab of knife will not kill a tree

you have not typed the question completely!!!!!!!