A leaf
unattached to a tree
……will wander.

Yes, free

to float high

then low… wherever a wind
deems it to blow.

Such freedom,
at times,

may feel like a vibrant luxury.

Spinning, dipping, twirling

unconcerned

that it is not attached to a life source.

That it is drying out.

Without water… not of the kind
like a river rushing it forward. This flush feeling divine as the rapids tickle its spine,

but the water that baths its insides
to eternity

when part of a breezy throng that russels in spring so beautifully

so kind to all adherents
although these leaves
in due season… do grieve too.

But, in completion.

Whereas,

this vibrant leaf
left
their home to roam,
prematurely and rebelliously

to navigate a world extravagant in its spending sprees.

Their wastefulness unconsumed by a starving humanity

does not this leaf observe

as it rapidly whirls
and spins above concrete curbs

avoiding traffic gleefully…

until the fickle wind
does not it lift again

as does hope
based on assurety.

It ends in the gutter
or beneath someone’s dirty feet

defeated
depleted of any nourishment sweet.

Crumbled to bits
until again swept along.
But this time by a city sweeper
removing debris from once crowded streets.

In the dawn of a new day… Silent
since even revelers need to sleep.