What is meant by saying broken bones of a dead tree?
The phrase, broken bones of a dead tree, is taken from the poem Vultures by Nigerian writer Albert Chinualumogu, ka Chinua, Achebe [b. November 16, 1930]. The writer drew upon his experience of cruel deaths during the civil wars in his own country, and upon the Jewish experience during the Holocaust. As nature’s clean-up crew, vultures leave little behind. The same may be said of the consequences of the death camp personnel. For both leave a trail of meatless, broken bones [if even that in the case of the Holocaust]. To reinforce the ghoulish images, the poet places the dead-feeders in a dead tree. The tree may be seen as a personification of Nigeria in the aftermath of the civil wars, and of Germany in the aftermath of the Holocaust.
