They're Gone

The trees are gone,
Cut down.
All that's left
Are piles of
Freshly cut thick trunks
And tangles of limbs.
Branches lay scattered
Like funeral wreaths.

For a hundred years,
Maybe more, maybe less;
The trees stood
So majestically.
Now they're gone
And my tears
Fall for the trees.

I weep for
Beauty and majesty
My children will
Not enjoy.
I pray for their future
And for their land
And that they will
Be better stewards
Than their generations before.

Reminded

Each time someone
Codes and dies
I am reminded
How very much I am alive.

I look upon
What remains of them
And am reminded
Of our ultimate end.

After nursing all these years
I can smell when death is near.
Each one who dies and goes
Reminds me I am very much ALIVE!