Autumn Path

A few leaves still remain,
Stubbornly refusing to fall.
Though most of their kin
Have already formed
A pretty orange carpet
On the forest floor.

The old leaves have to go
Eventually, or else
They’ll die clinging,
Shriveled and brown
To the branch of the tree.

The tree knows all about
Letting go.
It knows that life
Cannot be renewed unless
One first removes the old,
And the dead.

Such is the life of a tree.
Such is life.