THE FINAL RETURN

  

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Forgive me, Mother Earth, as I stand before you,

Born from your lap, to your lap I shall return;

Nourished by your elements, beneath your sky,

I leave with the lessons that my life has earned.

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With nothing in my hands, I face eternity,

With memories weighing upon my soul;

Not as a conqueror seeking immortality,

But as a humbled traveller seeking to be whole.

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I came from the Earth, I lived upon the Earth,

I wounded the Earth in my pursuit of more;

Now, before returning to the soil of my birth,

I pray to heal what I once destroyed before.

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My body shall return to the elements,

My breath shall surrender to the endless air;

The warmth that once animated my existence

Shall become part of nature's eternal care.

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The rivers shall continue their ancient journey,

The mountains shall witness another dawn;

New flowers shall bloom where my footsteps once wandered,

And generations shall travel on.

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Perhaps my name shall vanish with the seasons,

My worldly triumphs dissolve into the past;

Yet may the lessons of my brief existence

Become a light whose meaning shall last.

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For life was never merely about possessing,

Nor about conquering all that we could see;

It was about learning the art of belonging,

To a world far greater than you and me.

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I ask not that the Earth remember my name,

Nor that eternity preserve my story;

Let there be less suffering because I once lived,

And let kindness become my only glory.

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Born from your lap, I return to your keeping,

A traveller humbled by the truth of existence;

Having wounded the world through my unknowing,

I leave with a prayer for its healing and preservation.

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When my final breath dissolves into the silence,

Let not my possessions define what I have been.

Let the Earth be gentler because I once lived,

And let humanity be kinder because I was here.