By Linda Manning
You are the wheat fields waving in the breeze.
Tall growing corn in the corn fields.
The trees in the forest.
Flowers blooming in the meadows.
The rivers and lakes.
The mountains I climb.
The rock I sit upon and gaze outward.
The blades of grass I touch.
The ants I watch, or a beetle, a spider.
A deer, a bear, an elk, birds or a beaver.
All of God’s creation you are.
You are a bee gathering pollen for honey.
Fish darting back and forth in a stream.
The cacti growing out in the desert.
Poppies among the sand dunes.
A rattler giving warning.
A coyote howling in the night.
Each and everything of God’s work you are.
You are the ocean in a storm or calm.
Waves washing upon the beach leaving shells.
The heat and warmth, the rains of summer.
Wintery snowflakes softly melting upon my tongue.
The wind itself, for your ashes were given to the four directions.
Fire, for you were purged by fire.
Soil, for your ashes were buried.
Water, for you were scattered upon a river.
You are the sky, the moon and stars.
Cosmic energy drifting through space.
All these things you are to me.
For you are no longer of flesh, no longer a mortal.
You are my fondest memory and my love forever.
Englewood, Colorado 2002
