Earth Whispers

The grief I feel in my bones

is not unfamiliar

Watching the trees parch in drought

and the sea choking upon itself

It is how I have walked

since age 10

When you have a sister

your DNA is woven together

You hold a piece of each other

and when she is gone

So is a part of you

Is that how you feel?

I ask the earth mother

laying with her quietly in a meadow

yes, the wind in the grass whispers

yes, the soil hums beneath my fingers

yes, the insects march along my hair

I feel the youth of the earth

and its age

the weariness

from growing up too fast

we weep together

losing pieces of ourselves

slowly, out of our

control

sisters, elders, kin

we all share one life

no beginning or end

I weep as the sun sets on the day

offering what comfort I can

as the earth holds me

no matter how much we lose

we hold each other