Barking up the Wrong Tree

Its April of 2020 and Day 02 of A to Z challenge. This year, I am doing Metaphors. Be it a movie, song, painting, book, idiom, etc. I plan to give a perspective to it with an explanation and a 8 line poem. 

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Day 02 Metaphor: Barking up the Wrong Tree

Barking up the wrong tree is an idiom used as a metaphor to describe the wrong way of working towards a goal. It is used to suggest a mistaken emphasis in a specific context. It means that one has completely misunderstood something or are entirely wrong.

The context of the metaphor (known from historic sources) comes from America, nineteenth century, in reference to hunting raccoons with a hunting dog. When the nocturnal animal takes to a tree, the dog is supposed to remain at the base of the tree until the hunter arrives. However, in the dark, the dog might choose to guard a wrong tree where the raccoon could have taken refuge.

Poem:
A tree,
Out in the wild,
Bear golden fruits.
Another,
Out in the wild,
Bear eatable fruits.
He was always there,
Barking up the wrong tree.

When one does not have a vision, delays the decisions, fails a perspective, wrongs the means, etc. it’s always a wrong bark. If one clearly knows the wrong, the tree and the bark, well, one has to.