Afterlife

Photo of a dead cedar tree by the river.

Branchless and bare-bones;
the once-magnificent tree:
an ecosystem.

Survive

Photo of the ancient rocks on a beach.

Scarred, marred, and reformed
over thousands of lifetimes
earth survived humans

As fine wine

photo of large ocean rocks, their ridges and edges visible

Sea-sprayed and sun-dried,
matured over centuries—
complex, earthy, rock.

Border

Photo of the beach as seen from the rocks in the middle of the ocean, with pine trees in the distance, lining the coast.

Mark territories:
brick borders for garden beds,
pine trees for the coast.

Greet

Close up photo of a sunflower.

All hail the sunshine
greeting the lord with finesse—
common sunflower.