A Farewell Letter to My Ancestors

Dearest weary spirits of ancestors,

I know that you've been telling me not to enter the forest,
for the lawn itself suffices and the land provides.
And a man needs to do nothing but to reside.

But I have wanted more and I ignored your words.
So one day I decided to wander through the woods
In hopes of healing my home-inflicted wounds.

My journey proves that you're right
about how travelers would lose the blessings of the moonlight,
and how the trees slyly shelter unspeakable demons,
and that forest golems screech when singing their anthems.

But my journey also proves that you're wrong
for golems aren't the only creatures with a song,
Demons aren't the only thing there is,
and the forest can be a place of comforting bliss.

What you didn't tell me was that
Far beyond the trees, lies a pitch-black door between this realm and another.
It's calling. Whispering. Telling me to take one step further.
And it's telling me that those who enter will never go back.

In a few days I'll walk through
and leave this land for good.
You won't understand why I do what I'm about to.
You'll try to but find that you never could.

Somehow I know that through the dark, soul-purging door,
There's a whole new home worth fighting for.
There, I'll make friends with sorrowful ancestral spirits behind the voices,
But please know that with pain, I'll be carrying your ghosts, bones, and ashes.

Art by Elizabeth Kosowesky.

March 15, 2023
For my family and closest ones who may not understand.
In case one day I do hurt you, I'm really sorry.