Final Release

I was like lazy leaves,

refusing to change into the bold shade of gold

when our seasons decided to change.

I wanted to cling

to your embracing branches

and stay in those forever winter

days,

and when winter left,

I still clung,

and grew crinkled

and weak,

dangling

with some strand of a hope

that a reversal of gravity

would cry out

and I’d find myself embraced

in your branches once again. 

And now, the seasons have finished out their year,

and I have no choice but to move on

after shedding the last tear,

to be the leaf not so lazy, not so crinkled,

not weak,

to continue through the wind,

instead of decomposing as we speak.

As hard as it has been to let us decease,

I know I must exhale you, and accept

this final release.