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Death of a Staghorn

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We celebrate Birth and Life.

We avert our eyes from Death and Dying.

We see life in Kodachrome.

We see Death in monochrome.

Staghorn-Baby-Dead-I

 After the recent freeze,

I went into the garden on a mission to study death and dying

in the plant life there.

I made many photographs of what I saw.

I want to share the death of the Staghorn here.

Staghorn-Leaf-Frozen

After the frost,

The Staghorn anchor leaves changed from tender green

to silver and gold in the sun.

Staghorn-Fern-Leaves-Frost

The Staghorn was but an ephemera on the continuum

from stardust to stardust.

Her death a minuscule marker for those who came

before and those who will come after.

Freeze-Morning-II

When we banish the Fear Lizard

and view death through our spirit lens,

we see the nuance of color in death as in life.

Staghorn-RAW

This image is as I saw it.

In death, too,

There is noise. There is darkness.  There is light.  

There is color.

Staghorn-End-Stage

In the end, when the leaves are shrunken, gnarled, twisted and dried

their essence is visible in their structure.

As I observed them through the lens

I was surprised and astounded by the transformation.

When they were green and broad and healthy,

 the veins in their leaves were visible against the sun.

But they were only green leaves with a faint silver cover.

As I watched them die,

I understood the complex transience of life

And the incredible beauty of death.

sun-drenched

For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind

and to melt into the sun?

~Khalil Gibran

Note:  Re-posted from January, 2014  (A favorite post that I wanted to share again.)


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