past and present

the forest carries
the scent of fall:
detritus, mud and moss
i fill my lungs with the fragrant air;
the breeze tugs at my hair

the summer slips by so fleetingly,
careless days spent beneath the trees
i can't imagine where i'd rather be
than at one with this nature that surrounds me

my mother's whispers, in the passing weeks
have grown louder each day, i can hear her speak
but her stories mean nothing to me yet,
her language i can't quite comprehend

because instead of with words, she speaks in song
carried through the canopy and passed along
from flora to fauna, plant to man
if only i could understand

for the secrets that find themselves lost in translation
could one day, perhaps, end my hesitation;
these symbols speak only of my mother's adoration
toward the creatures i call my kin

perhaps nature is indifferent
and death, merely a testament
to a beautiful life lived:
if only humanity could see this

but instead, each day, we pillage the land
destroying everything beneath our hands
my mother is only so forgiving
eventually she will stop giving

longing is living when life moves so fast
no one knows which day is their last
propelled into the future by evolution
society shaped by each revolution
(of the earth around the sun)

in fifty years, i hope to look back
and reminisce about the life i had
bask in the glow of my glory years
laugh at the triviality of my fears
that at one time, bound me to the ground
prevented me from feeling proud
about any single accomplishment made,
forgotten in my haste
to hide myself from prying eyes
they only want to get inside -
but no one is able to read my mind
and maybe, the fear is misplaced
and instead of mistrusting, i should relate

because solidarity breeds satisfaction
a million people taking action
alone i'm nothing but a single face
in a crowd of hostility and hate
but together we can rise above it all,
catching each other when we fall
because failure is inevitable in a world like this;

no one can ever be perfect.