Signing off is a cold embrace

still Destiny calls for us night and day

leave behind your hearth and home

and go forth from this world, bravely.

 

Time cannot show

how long the present will be

or if the future is still there;

 

Yet on the eve of legend,

the guardian

does not fall to fear,

turn sadness to hate,

or lose to despair.

 

No matter how far you may be

from your land, and your seas,

the song of the Earth lives in you;

It is in the beating of your heart,

and the sound of your voice.

 

Earth is birds chirping

a lightning storm

and the sharp clap of thunder that follows every strike—

Earth is the magic of a first snowfall,

the feeling of being wonderstruck that never leaves you,

and the trust that goodness will prevail over evil—

Earth is the rushing of the wind, and

the roar of ocean waves crashing on the sand.

 

These are the things you must take with you,

remember to always love,

remember what peace feels like,

and go forth from this world, bravely.

 

And now we, your mothers and fathers,

sisters and brothers,

all those whom you bade farewell

do entrust to the stars, your dreams,

to the planets, your hope,

to Space, your courage,

and Time, your destiny.

 

By Grace Shanti Sherman

July 2, 2015