In Pursuit of Meaning

I hurried outside
in search of meaning
when suddenly I came upon
a solitary leaf
transfixed to Earth’s bed.

I bent to pick her
up when suddenly she spoke,
“No, please don’t move me—
I’ve just discovered my meaning…”

I stood up quickly
looking around—
No one was there.
Was I hearing things?
I ONLY was going
to pick up this leaf.

“I know what you’re searching for.”
Again, I looked around—
no one was there!

“Alright,” I said, I’ll play
along with this—
THIS leaf.

And the leaf spoke,
“Not so long ago
I pushed through a
long branch and began to unfold…
not of my own doing.

The time of season was
pleasantly cool.
I was a beautiful shade
of pinks and purples…

Warm air made its way in
and I grew, and grew
and GREW.

I hung with countless others—
our shade turned a vibrant green.

We loved touching each other
when a soft breeze
whispered—
together we sounded like an
amazing Gospel Choir…
NO WORDS NECESSARY.

Suddenly, a chill stirred—
the green began
to fade into an array of
reds, oranges and yellows.
I was beginning to
CURVE, crackle—
still, I hung on as I watched others whisked away
by the winds.

I cried out to so many—
‘don’t go, don’t go’ AND
some echoed back—‘it’s time!’

I was NOW uncertain if it
were I clinging to the branch
or the branch still
clinging to me.

Days passed
and I beheld a landscape that
I never could have imagined—
Everything around me was so
NAKED…I felt exposed
yet, more ALIVE in this dying
than I knew how to explain.

Frigid air hollowed—
but, to me, it felt like a
tender hand—
it ‘picked’ me and seemed to say,
‘it’s time to go.’

RELEASED

I weaved
and swayed through the
air for quite a while
before landing on this
blanket of Earth.

As light as I was
I’ve made an impression—
‘No, no don’t lift me to see’
it’s my resting place.

The very place I’ll cease
to be and yet I’ll be
One with all that IS.

See—this is my meaning.”

“Stop awhile…
Stop trying to DISCOVER yourself
amidst false ideals…
Wanting to be so many things
BUT who you are.
Stop…give gratitude to the
branch that has held you…

When ripened, you’ll FALL—
and the meaning you’ve
searched for will have
been discovered all along
and you’ll have

RISEN

once again
becoming
the
SUN.”