And there she laid down her wearied head
To rest one final time under the shade
'O the wiry willow

There, her thoughts spun webs of distant times past
Where honeysuckle wrapped tendrils round
The rugged walnut

Smells of various mountain flowers after a fresh rain
Accompanied the familiar tune of birds singing
An ode to the swaying oaks

A soft breeze warmed the chill of biting winters cold
Sending shivers down her frail frame
Skeletal like the barren birch

She blinked in time to barking angry squirrels
Displeased with the lack of fruit
Left by the poor pawpaw

Her vision, already blurred by cataract, began to fade
As the mountain consumed the setting sun
The light filtered by forlorn firs

It was time.

Long had she waited to join those that had gone before
Patient to be reunited with her love long lost
In the spring of blooming dogwood

In the distance she could see him, strong and proud
With effort she reached out to her beloved
A mighty hickory

And breathed her last.

In memory of her life, Diana, goddess of the forest
Let grow a grove of various mountain trees
Surrounding a single rhododendron

Her life, forever a monument to the nature she loved.

My old, out-of-tune piano,
when I play Metamorphosis by Philip Glass
through black-and-white eyes
speaks of me more truly
than a long, dramatic script.

Awake from a dream
dipped in sun fire,
is a caterpillar still
wrestling in my heart's
asylum—a chrysalis,
summoned by the
wilderness, is prying
itself open.

Where the field laid
bare in a pallor of cold,
is where spring begins
to overflow, like flowers
blooming from the deepest
nether—loving death is
outgrowing this world.

I wear a cloak of patience
over limitless energy,
shedding for dialogue
between potentialities,
inside me spins a thread
of great longing, but
around me, a great hope
is bursting at the seams.

A force spurs a descent
from the cave, from the
crumbling walls I am made.
What remains lifts the
curtains before a
show begins, where
in solitude I undress to
become a house of wings.

The orchard cradles
my smallness in a
concentrated blossom—
lighter than breath,
brighter than vision,
hidden among all there is,
a great wave inside a ripple.
To be delighted is to realise,
the world you fell into is
a vast sky.

And she dances to the gorgeous melodies of the wind.
Echoing strength  in her new found wings.
She gathers grace after an almost endless stupor.
With a courageous heart, she grows her pretty wings in darkness.
And as she enjoys her freedom in the air,
she scatters glitters to every flower.
A wonderful flight in cheers.
A celebration of hope and change.
A meaningful metamorphosis.
A colorful blossom that beautifully swirls.
Seeking love, bringing life.
A sweet journey to remember.
A brief yet lovely moment to soar.