I was born Mother Nature’s daughter
From the moment my tiny feet first touched blades of grass
Her rivers baptized me into a world bigger than I knew
I grew up like one of her trees
Limbs searching for sun and roots digging into dirt
and in return she showed me the wonders of nature
The hidden beauty of a sunrise
The bittersweetness of a rainstorm
The enigma of a butterfly
She filled me with light when my world was dark
Showed me that silence isn’t scary when filled with bird chirps
Her sweet rays felt like slipping into a warm bath as she embraced me
Kissing me with constellations of freckles
When I was younger I picked flowers from the ground
But she would never chastise me
simply growing more and patiently waiting
until I was old enough to understand
why the severed flowers always wilted so quickly
I see people now
who have lived through enough of her seasons
to understand what they’re doing
Producing their clouds of their own
smothering her stars with smoke
Covering her ground with wrappers
Cutting down trees for shopping centers
All of mother nature’s work
Swept away like one of her hurricanes

My mother is dying, and I have no idea how to help her.