In our youth we were wild and free. we ran through the valley and into the forest, looking for something that was unknown to us. we heard a call, we saw a strange being. and in that moment we knew this was her forest. she invited us to dance to the songs of the weeping willow. and to live among the roses. we danced , laughed and cried with her. and when it was time for us to part tears flowed from her eyes. and these tears broke as they fell into the shimmering stream.  she begged us to stay , she told us not to leave or she would punish us.  but we did so any way. and now that i’m older i wish i did stay because now nothing is as it was. when we left her the trees grew black with death. and the stream that was once pure and clean flowed infected with disease. the flowers never did smell sweet again and the willows song came to a sudden end. her gentle touch broke the world and suffered many. and as a hush rushed over the valley i heard her cries of sorrow. and in that  moment i knew who she was , she was the mother of all things. she was mother nature. and i can now feel the darkness defeating me. people say a light will shine through the darkness and i have learned to laugh through the tears. i have learned something from this the truth beyond all lies. how even the most beautiful things that are born , die with time and then can no longer be. to cherish life in all its forms and in all its beauty. and now as years pass i grow ill and frail. and so before life robbed me of its gift. i thanked her as i took my final breath and i to died with the valley.