” When Great Trees Fall” by Maya Angelou
When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and elephnats
lumber after safety.
When great trees fall,
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.
When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly,
see with
a hurt feel of clarity.
Our memory suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid.
Promised walks,
never taken.
Great souls die, and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrunk, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and unformed by their
radiance, fall away.
Godspeed Ruth!
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