the return to Nature

When I do die, lay me in the forest. 

I will find eternal peace amongst the trees, 

and my body will rot, decompose, 

and therefore bring life to the woods 

in which I am lain.

                   - August 27th, 2013

In the end, we are all returned to Nature. We die, we rot, and we feed the Earth. 

I read A Carcass by Charles Baudelaire, and it is so disgustingly descriptive that it makes you cringe; yet it celebrates the Circle of Life, much like my earlier request to be lain in the forest when I die. 

My desire for this has been confirmed.

I don't want to be buried in an expensive coffin made from slaughtered trees, and I no longer want to be burned and thrown to be caught by the wind. Just lay me in a bed of moss beneath the tree branches, my skin will be speckled by both sunshine and shadow.

And if I can no longer breathe, let me nourish and help the trees around me to breathe.

The flowers that grow from my bones will be the healthiest of all.

When at last our lively hour ends,

Slowly we begin the Return to Nature;

And return as well the life she lends.