Evergreen

Apricity

on my needles and trunk.

I relish the heat, and the company of friends. 

Soon, the touch of Helios

will no longer reach our spirits.

Imminently, cold frost dapples the Earth. 

Swift and brisk, it claims the air. 

Stoic and steadfast, I endure. 

My strength through the season is envied by many. 

Yet they don’t know that it is a burden 

I bear silently. 

It is I, 

a witness in sorrow 

as the cold soon clenches their roots with an iron grip.

It is I, 

Who bids farewell to each and every. 

The jovial amaryllis,

stern oak

charming maple.

And 

It is I, 

who curses the wind as

it whisks away their leaves

to distant unknowns. 

Year after year,

I call upon the great Mother Gaia, goddess of Earth.

Why must I be cursed to rejoice in my

lasting health,

rich hue,

and

Everything in which they long for?

In the end, 

It is I that is left to stand in the midst of ghosts that cannot touch my soul,

Evergreen, 

yearning for the echoes of their laughs.

by SOPHIA DU