Fall Leaves

Leaves fall off of trees,
the way I see what's between you and me,
like a dried leaf
falling off a tree,
gentle,
 kindly finding it's way to the floor
with all the others.

That leaf won't turn green,
won't fly up, reach up and attach to the tree,
but it will lie there with many others.
It will break down over years.
Because all the leaves are together,
they create warmth
and life is reborn, mobile below. Insects, worms, new life has a shelter,
   a place in the cold and dark and uncertainty, to live and breathe.

In a few years, a flower might grow right there or a tree.
Beautiful and alive, maybe fragile like a rue anemone,
or maybe strong like the sprout of an acorn.
But deserving of life either way.