Lifewright

By Eric Heppner

It was the forest Lifewright
With boughs of green and gold
That held the stars of heavens
And shaded the men of old

Through it ran river faithful
Which flowed through every root
That quenched every fire
And washed away the soot

The insects of Lifewright
The mantis and the bees
Kept the order of the forest
And flowered all the trees

Still it was the druid
Who sparked live in the wood
Who loved the forest
As only its father could

His eyes saw all the corners
His mind foresaw the wind
His hand started the beat of the heart
And could stop deaths painful singe

He guided the trees of Lifewright
Crafted each branch with his hand
He brought up the golden kernels of grain
And gave the fruit to the land

The forest grew tall and glorious
Its roots grew down to core
They filled all the soil with grasping hands
And still they wanted more

They stretched the bounds of the river
Their roots reformed the soil
Its bottom sank into the waste
And sunk its might to spoil

As the water fled the sun grew hot
And turned forest plush to hard
It dried the leafs to fire
The forest’s face forever marred

Now the forest was ablaze
The faithful all were gone
The trees fell quietly around him
The druid was now alone

He gripped the last seed
From when the trees were young and grew
He groped his fingers through the blackened ground
And hoped the forest would grow anew

He dug at the base of the river
For the scent of a drop
He dug till his strength left him
But the water was for naught

He pleaded with his servants
The mantis and the bees
They flew far away
Yet never found the trees

His strength was gone
And his tongue was dry
His eyes were heavy
He was about to die

He buried the seed
Still clenched in his fist
His last tears fell
For the forest he missed

For an age he lay
Unspoiled by the world
His hand tightly closed
As the seed unfurled

Watered by the tear
That it had stored so long ago
Its roots ran through the ground
And the faithful began to flow

The tree grew slow and strong
The faithful steadily poured
And watered the trees first fruit
The cycle now restored