When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.

Maya Angelou – When great trees fall.

Maya Angelou used symbolism and really strong imagery in her poem to describe how the death of an important person can affect someone irregardless of how strong one is, she describes our deepest regrets of not sharing moments of love and how they still influence our lives.

A number of people who are close to me and others i may just know from social media platforms have had a loved one who was of importance in their lives pass on recently,so this is for them as well as i.

My great tree did not fall, rather it ascended the skies beyond this realm returning to the one who loves it more than any of what i would offer to it now and forever.

The roots of this great tree are firm within the depths of this human heart, stretching it’s way through the fragments of my soul evoking in me memories filled with laughter that bring tears to these eyes through which the world i see and even though my vision is clear, the path is blurred every time these buckets of salty water come streaming down this face of mine that remains a testament to the bond i share with it. So here i pray the path clears for me as well as anyone else struggling to stay focused through the salt as well as stickiness our faces bare.

The physical absence of this tree was something i never took into account, a reality that one day it was here and today in prayer and memories it lives on. That even though i always knew it was a right upon it, that this worldly part of this tree will come to an end and our souls will reunite yet this heart of mine wanted to sit under it and embrace it one more time.

You see my great tree was once one i sat under to feel the warmth it has for me, to feel the depth of love it reserved only for me so each time i felt a little out of it, my hands instinctively reached out to it and as planned by the one above us all my great tree blessed me with the company of six so it’s branches could hold one of us each until the time came that we would become our own trees, such memories i have of this great tree,so did all that knew of it and here i pray that our hopes to reunite with our great trees be granted by the Almighty for a reunion like that is one we all continuously pray to see.

I never intended to ever write about my great tree, it just felt more protected keeping it guarded within me and even though i still will keep parts of it hidden for me, i hope this one i write helps you ease the pain that comes with the ascending of your great tree. i say ascending because loss isn’t the word to use for a presence so great in one’s life.

A sincere prayer i send upon all who may read this, that your hearts be covered with the mercy of the Almighty, your souls surrounded by peace, your bodies and minds healthy and your faces radiant despite the pains death brings.

May God forgive them and elevate their station among those who are guided. Send them along the path of those who came before, and forgive us and them, O Lord of the worlds. Enlarge for their graves and shed light upon them in it.

And so this is not a goodbye rather may we meet again in the gardens of heaven.