Old Bones

On a recent off-trail tromp through the Matthaei Botanical Gardens' property, Steph and I made a beautiful discovery: the bones of a long-dead deer, scattered and covered by healthy, green turf. Parts of the skeleton were peeking through the growth: here a rib, there a jaw, just barely visible beneath the living, thriving grass. New plants sprouted up around a fragment of the skull, tiny cotyledons catching the sun next to very-white teeth. I feel very fortunate to have seen these bones; by summer they will be covered by vegetation, overgrown and hidden, perhaps for good.

The years pass, and the dead are gradually recycled back into the landscape, their bones nurturing the earth.