One by one
the leaves let go
Image: Joey Genovese/Unsplash
falling
to the waiting earth below.
The tree stands
naked
in its bereavement
tall and strong
it weather winter snows
knowing that when spring arrives
her beauty will return
clad in leaves of glorious green
a sheltering for the birds
a shade for summer’s sun.
Until October’s brush
paints her anew
with fiery reds and shimmering golds
and once again she stands
in full magnificence
yet knowing that
as the seasons change
she must again let go
and wait upon the spring.
-Sister Kathleen Lyons, csj