A Dignified Death

A Dignified Death

Upon returning from the promised land
He took a stroll through the woods of his boyhood
Where deer tracks lay fresh within snow
Near trails hewn by blades o'er ice.

Trudging down a path he'd tread many a time
His sense of direction got muddled
Though that unrecognized tract sparked intrigue;
Alas, a felled pine waylaid him thereon.

'twas an august old fir
Whose enormous trunk stretched
Across its coniferous domain.
Younger timbers looked on in mourning...

Diffused through dense canopy
Solar flares slanted earthward
While chickadees darted
Over head of human bystander.

Left dumbstruck with awe
His own breath rose as mist
And he drew in the smell of that passing.
Heightened blood pumped blessedly then

Informed by those splendid surroundings:
"When majestic trees tumble—upright loners are called out to witness
 Because all living things, be they massive or small
 Can depart with immeasurable greatness!"

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