JUST ONE LEAF

Walking outside to get into

my car and 

zoom off to tackle

the first of several errands planned for this day,

I'm stopped 

dead in my tracks

by the sight of

            one

                        single

                                    red oak leaf

      swirling

                        down

around

            my

                        head

carried along by the first strong cool, breeze

of the season

 

Quite a few other leaves

are lying on the ground already,

but this is the first one I've actually watched 

falling

in            super      slow       motion

vividly demonstrating the path we all

must travel eventually

as it spirals downward

following gravity's pull

back into the earth

from which we arose at birth

 

Just two minutes earlier I was in a

mighty big rush to go somewhere else

but this one, single leaf has hushed my mental chatter  

just long enough

to reveal the mysterious

curvature of time and space in this place where I'm standing

demanding that I slow down

take a deep breath

face into the fact of my eventual death

then 

pause

and give thanks for this moment of simply bearing witness

to the turning of the seasons

once again.

With gratitude and blessings,

        Rudi