Welcome!

Earth, ancient mother,
I return to your embrace
as the hourglass sighs its last breath,
as the drum of the clock beats its final note.

I come to rest where the sun bows low,
its golden crown slipping behind the hills,
its fire spilling into the waiting night.

Farewell.
Farewell.
Farewell.

Farewell to the sands,
you cradled my footprints,
you kept my secrets,
you bore witness to the weight of my labour.

Farewell to the waters,
you quenched my thirst,
you washed my wounds,
you sang to me in the language of rivers.

Farewell to life,
I danced with you in your season of bloom,
I climbed your heights where the air was sharp and sweet.

Farewell to the unborn,
I have seen the turning of the ages,
and even in the shadow of death,
my name will walk among the living.

The bald eagle wears the silver crown of age.
The leopard’s back has kissed the dust.
The bat flies at noon,
the day unsettled by its omen.

The vulture waits in the market square at midday;
death has run its race,
and the mothers bargain with silence.

The sage departs
when the sky is grey with ending
and green with beginning.

Farewell,
until the drums call again.