Last summer, in a park

where the only voices we hear

are always our own and those of

Mother Nature’s feathered choir,

after picnicking with my children

'neath the spreading arms

of a multi-tasking

being of God,

I stumbled upon

a reminder of death,

and the celebration of life.

On the grassy carpet, a

man's name and his living years

are frozen in time with a small block

of stone. Behind the stone, a life’s

remembered through another one.

A few years have passed since

this new life was

first rooted into

the peaceful habitat,

where it dwells with

magnificence and splendor.

The living memorial bestows

comfort with its gnarling fingers as

family members gaze at a life that lives

on through the memory tree. The love

that the family members have for

this special person continues to

grow each and every

day as the oxygen

giver reaches for

the wild blue yonder,

towards the life it represents.

As I paused at the

tree, I thought to myself:

I hope someday when it's my

turn to say goodbye, I'll be honored

in the same way—a life remembered

with Mother Nature, whom I'm a big

admirer of. Then, when my future

generations would see the tree,

they would see a

reflection of me

and the memory

tree would bring

some breaths of air

to those who pass by,

when I have taken my last.

Published in Tree Magic: Nature’s Antennas, ed. By Jackie Hofer, 2005