Just Nature

She began a vibrant and thriving leaf,
Light and carefree in the cool spring breeze,
Under cover, out of the blistering sun,
Always surrounded by friends, full of life;

From the shadows of safety, she was thrust;
And amid this new light, she found her prince.
Within her, she discovered unfamiliar sensations,
Sweet as nectar, sweltering as flame
This fresh passion never seemed to waver

Then one day, her prince left, and in his place
Grew a hole, wilted around the edges,
As if a caterpillar had eaten her alive.
Over time, she healed almost completely;
However, she couldn’t slip back into the dark.

She turned orange and red and grew brittle;
The breeze returned suddenly, and with it, her prince.
She clung to him, savored their time together;
She trusted him and all of his promises.
Violently, and suddenly as he’d appeared…
He had vanished again, forever.

Crisp and dark, there would be no hole this time;
Instead, snow fell, and she tried to hang on.
Alas, weak and hurt as she had grown,
She simply floated from her branch to the ground.
There, she slowly crumbled into pieces.