The Lifeless Leaf

By Josie Woosnam

Crimson and gold are just two of the colors that paint the trees with such majesty that surround my lifeless body

I used to be one of them, one of the gently dancing creatures that change colors with the seasons

I used to be young and full of life

I used to be naive and thought that beauty remained where I was, but I’m seeing now just how I was wrong

I saw life through life-giving colored lenses that shifted with the seasons

Now I see it as dull and bleak, not rich in color like I once remembered it to be

As the sun sets and I near the time I will be whisked away into oblivion, I think over all that I was and all that I could have been

The color leaves my body as I become one with the earth beneath me

I was truly happy, yes the weather dictated my color, but that didn’t mean it didn’t ever match my mood

I was one with a never-dying spirit

I danced among the prominent muscled figures and the small, dainty ones

I touched the sky, not being very far from the ground

I always wanted to touch it - the ground

But now that I have, I want to go back to the life I once knew;

A life filled with color