i saw a leaf fall
and with it all
that it portends
there was life
there was death
and life again
swirling lazily
to the ground
as though
once released
so went the will
to hang on
or maybe it was time.

besides me
the morning air
the rising sun
a quiet squirrel
bore witness
to the halt of a good thing
that rest might come,
a silent slumber
to wait out the cold
to wait out the dark
of a new winter
so long past the old
i had forgotten
it ever existed
as i laid in summer’s warmth
thinking it was unending.

i saw a leaf fall
and with it all
that it portends
a story of disconnections
a story of ends.