Earth Grief

My tears flow like a river down my face,

Drip, drip, dripping the length of my body.

I feel the saltiness on my tongue.

I hear my tears patter as they flow to my feet.

As each tear meets the earth,

A new life begins to take shape,

As my sorrow forms,

New green shoots of plant life emerge.

Another tear and I see ferns,

More tears, and I see baby maple trees,

More and more tears, and I see new life forming all around me.

The weeping and the wails of our people,

The witnessing and mending,

The release and the honoring of our relationship to the sacred,

Sustains and breathes new life into being.

So I wail.

So I cry.

So I grieve.

And I let the waves of emotion,

Cascade down into the earth.