Elegy For a Fallen Leaf
A poem
Cradled in the tender embrace of the earth, you lie
a fragile sculpture of ochre and rust,
veins once thrumming with life
now etched in perpetual stillness.
A solitary monument to the cycle of existence,
fallen from your lofty perch among the verdant canopy.
In your youth, you unfurled to greet
the warm caresses of the vernal sun,
a vibrant emerald Esperance
adorning the mighty oak’s outstretched arms.
You danced upon the invisible currents,
revelling in the whispers of the wind
as it carried the melodies of birdsong.
Radiant summers found you
basking in the golden rays, photosynthetic alchemy
transforming you into a verdant powerhouse,
busily enriching the sylvan veins that were your lifeblood.
Yet, even amid that vibrant peak,
the indelible tinge of impermanence coloured your edges,
a harbinger of the inexorable transition to come.
As autumn’s cool embrace descended,
you answered the call of nature’s grand transition,
surrendering your greening cloak
in a resplendent blaze of rusted hues.
Your life echoed the ancient song of regeneration,
a final burst of beauty
before the profound slumber of winter.
At last, severed from your majestic anchor
by the season’s icy gusts, you relinquished your tenuous grasp
to join the earthen covering below.
A bittersweet homecoming,
your deathless essence returning to the loamy womb,
the nutrients of your noble sacrifice
destined to nourish new life in the perpetual cycle.
Here you lie, a humble reminder
that transcendent beauty can be fleeting yet eternal,
temporal yet infinite.
Your delicate form, now brittle and cracked,
is an evocative memento mori
whispering of the exquisite impermanence
that defines our cosmic sojourn.
In your final repose, you beckon us to accept
the profound truth woven through every fibre of your being
that we, too, are but ephemeral leaves
riding the atmospheric tides of the infinite.
To surrender to the ebb and flow,
to bask in the radiant moments
while transcending the bittersweet inevitability
of the falling away.
Resting beneath the gnarled,
weathered oak that was your home,
a fallen leaf, yet an radiant torch
passing the transcendent flame
to the next green revolution.
