As Fall approached,

he thought about the leaves,

short lives spent tethered to a tree,

growing old

and falling to the earth,

only to crumble

and join the earth

in a roiling soup of life,

circular

and destined to repeat.

They burst forward

from the branches,

lithe and green,

with shiny exteriors

and no wrinkles.

Beaten back by the wind

and weather,

pummeled by falling branches,

dying quick deaths

when their support

fell to the ground,

they were exposed to the elements

and had no defenses.

How did they deal with the death

and destruction that came upon them?

What could they do

in the face of a certain end?

Then,

in a flash of insight,

he realized that it wasn’t his decision.

It wasn’t for him

to worry about the leaves.

It wasn’t for him

to find a solution

to things beyond his control.

Instead,

his only task

was to care for the leaves,

to admire their beauty,

and to follow them on their life journey,

until they joined the rest of the earth,

and rested until they could make the journey again. .rickcigar