Beyond Even Death

how many times has the moon become full
a waxing and waning day and night jewel
since the beginning of life for this old tree
1200 years before you and me

it will go on, it will survive
very long after we're not alive
a natural temple sprung from the earth
perhaps to be met in another birth...

how many empires have risen to fall
Mongol,British, American and all
the religions where God's on our side
fading to hatred no one abides

languages, lifestyles, reaching to space
just like this tree on the mountain I face
where over a thousand years have slipped by
under the heavens above in the sky...

coming and going like clouds drifting by
we are like insects learning to fly
time disappearing tic tic tic toc
far beyond lifetimes this tree doesn't stop

living and living and living some more
teaching us something that goes to the core
of every heart beat and of each breath -
living goes on beyond even death...