The Arrival

When they arrived

They brought with them

Terrible sounds

We heard

Before we saw them

Metal upon metal

Grinding

Ripping

Crushing

Beneath boots of folded death.

Blink

And the trees that towered over me,

My father, my mother

Their grandparents grandparents,

Vanished.

Inhale

The scent of sweet summer berry

Traded for the scent of rot and decay

Bruised flames

Against a hazy sky.

When the Earth was new,

A flaming

Boiling

Chaotic landscape,

She was

Creating.

Now again,

She is

Flaming,

Boiling,

Chaos

Yet this time

She is destroyed.

---

Has the veil

To the spirit place

Thickened

Are they petrified even in the other world?

Do they take the color with them?

This washed out landscape

More dismal than eternal winter

Seasons end

Clouds break apart

The rains cease

The snow in the mountains

Melts

melts

melts

And down

It rushes into the valley,

A bloom that rivals the night sky to follow

Blazes across the hillsides

Red

Orange

Pink

White

Yellow

Colors of the insides of our bodies

Laid bare on the surface of the earth

Seasons end

I don't know

When this ends.

---

There is no spring beauty

Without winter brutality

This cycle

Is justified.

Even the bitterness

Of mugwort leaf

Is worthwhile.

The sharpness

Of the berry bush thorns

Is fleeting.

We can trade a discomfort

For something so wonderful.

Tell me

What is this violence

Without end

This is no winter

This is no bitter medicine

This is no bloodletting for the greater good

This cycle

Cannot be justified.

---

Before they arrived

The ambient sounds

To be heard

The shriek of the eagle over us all

The cry of the coyote

Elk bugles

Puma in the tree

Rabbit in the brush

Fox on the sand

Wolf snaps his jaws

Millions of heron take wing

The lake has dried

This is no place for them now.

---

Autumn wind

Swirls across the valley

Poppy seeds

Rain down on the ground

The pod split apart

Come spring

This barren ground

Will be green

Come summer

This verdant field

Will be ablaze in blossoms

Come fall

Flames scorch and renew

Come winter

The buried seeds

Will weather the storm

Come spring again

Watch us rise.