Days pass like leafy messengers floating on the breeze,
Quiet, unobtrusive, they fall away
Revealing the bough on which they grew and growing had their day.
The rising sap of spring made the crowning leaves of summer,
And now…
Now its autumn and the leaves gently fall, carried on the wind.
Sap retreats, feeling the touch of frost in the air,
The branch remains,
Still, silent, in the forest. defying the blast of winter.
When gales come it moves and sighs
Giving shelter…
Though lost forever seems the gentle running current
That dressed it so beguilingly in foliage.
Once there were many leaves,
Now but few.
Life’s autumn season is one of humility,
Yet reveals, hidden strength.
Dainty leaves couldn’t stand the frost
But, grown supple in summer storms,
The bough can weather winters blast for
Deep within,
Unseen, unheard,
The living sap awaits the spring
To burst forth,
Rising to the heavens to dress the boughs in splendor.
The sap has not gone,
The tree yet lives.
Its boughs collecting beauty of a different sort;
More splendid than before
Dressed in white, it patterns the heavens.
It is in winter a tree is seen,
When nothing of vanity remains,
Just strong, lithe limbs
Reaching upward in defiance of earthly weights.
Its power and beauty revealed,
A sight to stir the senses.
Fear not these passing days
Leaves that fade before your eyes
Skiming, dancing in the wind.
Naked, leafless, you stand
Winds pass your empty branches
Finding naught on which to take hold
As you sway and dance in its presence.
Till,
One day,
The sun will rise.
You’ll feel tingling deep in your roots.
You’ll know what it is,
For you felt its coming before,
The sap rises.
