The Leaves

The sun is high in the blue sky,signs of spring everywhere
in the middle of what is supposed to be winter here.
I think of you, how you have chosen to fall away.

Leaves everywhere both reminding us of winters past
and the promise of new life as spring already seems to unfold,
I wonder how you are and what is making you stay absent.

I see a big tree in the forest, reaching up to the light of day
and suddenly I feel I too, am a tree, with leaves rustling in the breeze.
My leaves are many, each a friend or loved one, close to my heart.

My leaves are many, large and small, new and old, fresh and brittle,
as I recall how close you felt just recently to my dreams and soul.
Now you are drifting fast away, like a leaf in a strong storm.

I watch the leaf float away, getting smaller by the day, and as I am
root bound, I have to stay and let you go, as I have watched many
a leaf blow to other horizons over the course of my life.

It is no cause for sadness or alarm, many a leaf has twirled down
to rest at the roots of the tree that is my heart, and added a coat
of warmth on a chilly day.

Those we love never really leave us, they become a part of our breath,
our story, our soul, as they gently weave our memories with the strands
of their gifts to the tree we are to be, so, I may miss you for a while.

Until the day I realize the pain of what I thought was losing you is now
a rich mulch keeping warm the roots of my being, as I hope that maybe
someday you might be yet another leaf for me to be proud of and enjoy.

Those we love never really leave us, they become a part of our breath,
our story ,our soul, as the scar of the absent leaf grows over and makes room
for yet more growth... I must let you go, with gratitude and grace.

So, wherever the wind takes you next, good luck, good bye, take care, be well
may the tree of your life keep growing too, and whatever leaves drop to your feet
may they too keep your roots happy, warm and strong.

Trudi Ralston.
January 29th, 2015.
For D.O.