the sun took a little longer to rise today
and the herons came not to the pond this morning

these are the stories that she used to tell
she made us stop and take a look at the things that mattered
a sun rise
a dragonfly
a heron
and when we looked at these things through her eyes
our own eyes became all the more clearer
our own hearts became all the more open
our own lives became all the more full

she never let life get in the way of her living it
she made it her own, and lived it her own way
never compromising,
never changing,
never giving up
and in this,
she inspired us all

she lived as one with nature
her very home made of
the stones of the earth,
the glass of the sky
the wood of the land
and it was here
that her art and her life became one
she lived her art
and her art became her life

and so now
the sun is a little less brighter
the wind blows a little colder
the herons sing not their song
the dragonflies hover not today

for today ,
nature has lost . . . a friend. . .
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