AFTERLIFE Becky Hemsley

"AFTERLIFE"
(by Becky Hemsley)

“In my next life,” said the tree

“I think I’ll be a dragon,

Or maybe be a mountain troll

Who owns a giant tavern

Perhaps I’ll be a little girl

With secret, hidden powers

Or maybe be a tiny ant

That lives amongst the flowers

Perhaps I’ll surf a waterfall

Or burrow underground,

Perhaps I’ll find a heart-shaped balloon

And float up to the clouds

Perhaps I’ll find a rocket

And I’ll fire it into space

Or maybe meet a pirate

With a scar upon his face”

“What do you mean?” I asked the tree

And that is when he said

“You know we’ll all die one day

But our souls will not be dead

So when the world assumes

That I have reached eternal sleep

I’ll worry not because I’ll have

So much life left in me

See, they will take my ever-reaching

Branches in their glory

And I’ll become the pages

Of a many-treasured story

And that is why you’ll often

Find them leafing through the pages

Or turning over new leaves

Of a tale they’ve known for ages

I will not look as I do now –

My life will be rewritten

But they will hear my echo

On the pages if they listen

So if you feel inclined to,

Take a walk into the woods

And take a bag upon your back

Packed with your favourite books

Then find a shady canopy,

A leafy spot to rest

And read the trees the stories

Of the lives they might live next”

*******

Becky Hemsley 2022

Gorgeous artwork by Quasirosso (@gio_quasirosso on Instagram)

‘Afterlife’ is from my newest collection, Letters from Life https://a.co/d/f1WmnD0

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