New Beginnings

I have parted with my friends,
I have said farewell to my mother and sister,
and I must away.
Soon, too soon,
the long night shall end and the day shall come upon me,
when the final errands and tasks shall be completed
and I shall journey to new valleys,
new hills and streams,
new faces.
Why does this parting jar me so?
When did I put my roots deep into the earth beneath me,
without knowledge,
without permission,
I grew them here.
I sang a sweet song to the earth, and she beckoned me--
"Come, deeper still, until you
and this earth
and this stone
and this water
and this fire,
until all this is one in you and of you"
And now I must leave her,
and find her elsewhere.
She will have a different face
a different scent
a different sound in my ears,
but it will be her, and I look forward to meeting her again.