THE OLD WOMAN AND THE EARTH

The old woman asks the earth

What will you leave me when I die?

The earth replies

What have you given me?

She says

The first time I wept in winter

My tears turned to snow

And caressed your shoulder

The fist time I walked forth

My footsteps formed a path

That the young still follow

The first time I sowed a seed

Into your heart in the garden of reeds

The flower that blossomed

Made you beautiful evermore

Leaving behind its gift to you

The day it wilted and dried

The days I sang into the breeze

My voice echoed off the trees

To resonate in the vales and valleys

Playing the orchestras of summer's sweeps

The first time I danced in the rain

With song and innocence

The rain turned to Holy Water

As it seeped into your muddy face 

The day I die

I empty the Tree

For another to come

To grace its greens

Will you leave nothing for me?

The earth smiled

And she lay there in bed

As she breathed her last

Her exhale stole out the air

It ran out the open sky

And into the purple clouds

Onto the dancing kite

Along the rivers green

And past the rusted bridge

Inside the windows stained

And into the cot beside

The little faries and the dolls

Mixing with the breath of a child

The earth gave her nothing to keep

But to be born as another

In her sleep.