FROM GREEN TO GOLD-The Art of Letting Go

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At first, it was a fist—tight, unyielding green,  
clenched against wind, against the weight of rain.  
It did not know the art of letting go,  
only the hunger, the reach for steady light.  
But time, the devious thief, came whispering of gold,  
then left it trembling, edged with rust and fire.  

Oh, how it burned before it knew the fire  
was not an end, but part of being green~  
a fleeting brilliance, not quite gold,  
but more than what survives the sting of rain.  
It learned to arch its spine into the light,  
to ache, to crack, and then: to simply go. 

Some call it mercy, this permission to go.  
Some call it ruin—the slow kiss of fire,  
the way it thins, translucent in the light,  
no longer what the world would call, green,
but something softer, shaped by every rain,  
by every storm that scatters it with the wind.   

And when at last it crumples into brittle gold,  
when roots no longer beg for it to go,  
when it has memorized the taste of rain,  
it does not curse the coming of the fire.  
It does not mourn the memory of green,  
but turns its face up to the bleaching light.  

What is a leaf, if not a kind of light?  
A fleeting currency, a spent coin  
that once was sharp and shameless in its green,  
that once refused the thought of go,  
but now, in ash and aftermath of fire,  
laughs at the fear it had of petty rain.  

It does not matter now—the lash of rain,  
the way the wind pretends to own the light.  
It has been broken open by the fire,  
has known the worth of temporary gold,  
has learned the deepest lesson: to let go  
is not to cease, but to begin. Be green.  

Be green, then gold. Be tinder for the fire.  
Let go. The light will find you. So will rain.

inspirationalmeaningfulsestina

♡Like0

Poem

Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.