Nature loved you

And you loved Nature;

Each gave to each other the heart.

Breathy winds whispered wisdom to your ears

And like a stoker,

Beauty stirred the fire of your passion.

So it was that you offered yourself to Nature as

A servant

A friend

A lover.

Each day was a roaring waterfall

Of thoughts and emotions.

Both the burning wells of love and anger

Gave you strength to be a warrior.

The word,

Written and spoken,

Was your merciful sword.

Unfailing compassion and hope

Were your indestructible shield.

The world’s virgin lands

Wondrous

But not untouchable

Were the battlefield.

And people tainted by

Corruption

Greed

Ignorance

Were the enemy.

You fought;

You fought so bravely, so determinedly

And in the end,

You became a sacrifice for Nature.

Another mourned body

Whose burdens fly to living comrades.

But memory does not die with the mortal body-

You live on,

Loved and revered,

Your deeds known and unforgotten.

And your fallen mantles

Are draped over the shoulders of ones alike to you.

Do not fear for the death of your duty;

I will bear it for you

And pass it on

When I too can no longer be a warrior.

This battle is not lost.