Of Moss and Flame, Of Sky and Stone | by Andre Bshara

Think now of forces unremitting
Found within nature most befitting
And chance us on a story to tell
Of suspense, rise, and fall permitting

Doesn’t decay come to the mind’s cell?
And before that, life’s continued swell?
A harrowed story of growth and loss
A taste of heaven ‘fore ‘ternal hell

Consider the course of gentle moss
Which wanders through woodlands years across
Covering craters like green-hued snow
Each inch forward leaving life at loss

Mind the flame and the warmth it bestows
Feeding the air by flicker and glow
Yet dealing death by shutters of shade
Its embers recasting life hollow

Clouds assemble in the sky to wade
Forming here a heart and there a spade
With motion dismantling piece by piece
Indebted to Earth by dew drops paid

Think flocking sheep boasting golden fleece
In greenest pastures from God a lease
Hardly realising the grassland’s end
Where fluff and fodder begin to cease

See humble stone casting curvéd bend
In draw-wells moulded by fierce amends
With time their fortress scattered to dust
Bridged by mem’ry as one to a friend

Find crumbling dirt on Earth’s outer crust
Loosened by fingers and objects thrust
Splaying the mantle up as a cloud
Spreading through surfaces as it must

Death needn’t be demonised in shroud
Nor life pleasant and candied aloud
Just seen and loved while simply sitting
A story enjoyed as I had vowed.

Andre Bshara was born in Cleveland, Ohio, where he is currently training to be a Pulmonary and Critical Care physician. Andre’s medical focus lies in providing critical care in global and refugee settings. His writing serves as a reprieve from his busy medical life; otherwise, he enjoys being outside, exercising, playing video games, and reading.