Perennial Lyrics

I watched you sprout, and nursed you as you gently bloomed

With your siblings shading me I waited patiently

Humus, sating me, breathing, teeming with life and death

As you bathed in sunlight and drank my sweat

Aging, growing rigid when the air turned frigid

Gracefully fading, braving winds and insects

While I laid low

You were glowing as you died slowly

Lifeless as the rock beneath me

As I fed you, you will feed me

When the weather finally breaks you,

I'll embrace your frail remains

Perfect, still, you'll live inside me

Together, thriving, flourishing,

nourishing our children and children's children

You'll be remembered forever and ever

My heart is a hidden pit

In this cavern burns a pyre singing roots, repelling worms

An ancient incubator, vacant and primed

On the walls, a shadow play

Below, a rattle made of wolf teeth, a stick and twine

lays lamely on the floor in a layer of dust

From the core to the mantle to crust,

my every atom vibrates in anticipation of impending excavation

Rapacious as the rock beneath me

As I fed you, you will feed me

When the weather finally breaks you,

I'll embrace your frail remains