Autumn

Breaths coming heavily;

muscles aching, shaking;

mind pleading for rest;

at long last, as though a gift from above,

a clearing appears-

and I see her.

A beautiful oak tree,

she stands tall,

clothed in gorgeous fall foliage,

bathed in warm sunlight.

Without warning, the air I breathe

breaks my heart-

filled with profound melancholy,

leaden with regrets,

the faint whispers of weeping dancing on the wind,

the vast, heavy darkness of mourning.

This being, so purely magnificent,

I yearn to understand;

through empathy, a bond of respect and kindness,

I feel her explain:

“I feel myself rustling in the wind-

I am shaken.

I see a reflection at the water's edge,

this image...unrecognizable-

I am changing.

I gaze upon my leaves,

once verdant and lush,

now blood red and brittle-

I loathe my new form.

I smell the pungent odor

of my decaying foliage-

I am shedding, left exposed,

parts of me dying.

I taste the refreshing water

of rain and of lake;

still I change, still I die-

I am hopeless, desperate.

I hear

birds chirp, deer scuttle, squirrels scurry,

for life goes on-

yet, I feel dead.”

As her lamentations end,

I feel- for a moment- one with her...

I have experienced such a place before.

I posses an advantage- perspective;

I know spring comes, carrying

renewed strength,

fresh growth,

surges of life, hope, meaning.

“Hold on." I urge.

“You are not dying;

you are preparing

to be reborn.”

#poetry #personal #journey #life #growth #survivor #perspective #shift #hope