Like a leaf we come into the world,
Both as some divine intervention.
At first, we are tender and subject
To the forces of nature.
As we get older and stronger,
We are better able to handle adversity.
We grow, and so too from our own limbs
Comes forth divine life from our inner self.
As is the case with each single leaf,
We too have our beginnings in our roots.
Who we are, what we are, and where we are,
Are all determined by preexistence.
So too will it also be for each flower
We give forth into the world.
Our actions are like the pollen from the flower,
Our children like the fruit from its branches.
The fruit so too benefits those in its path,
Be it by beauty, by food, or by seeds.
As the branch from the leaf springs forward,
It gets stronger and stronger with each day.
In time, the initial leaf is no longer needed,
Its work is over, its mission completed.
No longer needed for future growth,
It loses its driving force.
It’s the beginning of the end.
It becomes weak and brittle,
Anything will make it wiggle.
Then in a strong gust of wind,
Or perhaps on a calm summer day.
Like the leaf that falls from the tree,
We too will be whisked away into eternity.
∞ Rob McBride ∞
7 Nov 2022