Fallen Leaves

A Poem by Alesha

I love fall,
the crisp coolness
of the air, and the
start of another
school year and the
way the daylight
fades into cozy nights
curled up with a
good book, but most
of all, I love when the
leaves change colors and
begin to fall.

Shades of red and yellow
dot the ground and remind
me of a simpler time
when I didn’t worry about
much other than what
I would wear to school
the next day or if I should
talk to that cute boy I
had a crush on or whether
I would have a pop quiz
in science class that I
hadn’t studied for-again.

Sometimes I feel a little sad
when I see the leaves
on the ground, like
they’ve been forgotten
and the tree can’t just
take them back but
one
by
one
the leaves fall until
the tree is bare and
cold.

Life is like that
at times, with unexpected
twists and turns, grief
and loss and pain,
making us question everything
we thought we knew and
cracking us open until we
fear we will break and we
lose our beautiful leaves
and are left alone in
the cold and
dark.

The leaves will return
in the spring, a rebirth
and new opportunities
for growth that somehow
are better than before
but we don’t see all that
in the midst of our
sorrow, but have to
wait until spring and
recognize that we are
stronger and wiser now
because of our fallen leaves.