The Leaves

One leaf is out of place

On the trail.

I know but how.

Nothing ordinary has ever compelled me before.

I turn from my walking and move towards

What I’ve never seen before.

My body is old. It does not guide me.

My eyes turn white as their color

Recedes until a new eye is ready

To be made alive.

How did I see the leaf.

And know

It was something worth pursuing.

I’m old now.

My soul moves me.

The feeling of something new, no less fear-filled,

But familiar nonetheless,

Reminds me how to be young.

This path I walk

Each day

Since the sickness took my beloved of 55 years away

Never changes

Unless it wants to show me another way.

To grieve

To walk

To live

To talk

To receive comfort from the sound of faithful fall beneath my falling feet

Until I fall and rest beneath them.