Back to the Earth

The owl's wide wings tipped to vertical. It flew, barely visible, through the trees. We couldn't see it perched up there But heard it ask us who we were. You replied in kind because We weren't quite sure. It might have watched on As we unsplit from two to one On the moonlit bank, Across the shim'ring creek Where ships of leaves took sail On their final journies Back to the Earth. Back to the Earth. Breathless in the chill night air, Warm gusts shallow against my neck. We added call and response To crickets' song, tinkling brook, and frogs. We cooed our way through This healing mood. We sang to remember our songs Of memories long gone. We cried over sad new ones Pounding rhythm like a drum. As the brine of our bodies Made its way Back to the Earth. Back to the Earth. Home, apart and sleepless in the endless night. I wrestle fear, from my dying father's sight. And you contemplate your life Trapped in a cage and bleeding out from a knife. Dawn uncovers the vanity Of all these very human pains Reminds me that all we become, Is nothing but a zero-sum. And everything that we create In time, all slips away And we pay for this life When our bodies crumble Back to the Earth. Back to the Earth.