The Tragic Life of a Leaf

You start out green and new, as a brand new shoot, nurtured by a ‘Loving Mother Tree,’ and surrounded by lush, growing sibling leaves all In relative, naive Harmony. You mature and grow into The Most Beautiful Version of Yourself, peaking a little too early, given the length of your life cycle. After you’ve served Your Purpose (you were never told what it was), your kindly mother turns on you; Once she nurtured you, watered you, and warmed you by sunlight. You were whole and thriving and complete. Now, She cuts off these vital nutrients. All of a sudden, you’re given no light, no food, no water. And no answers about WHY. Your sibling leaves are going through a similar situation, So they are of very little use to you. Frankly, they’re every bit as confused as you. You slowly starve and dry up until you’re officially “desiccated.” Then, the Mother Tree drops you. The winds of change blow you onto a completely random path, forcing you to intermingle with leaves you don’t even know, Making one last splash as “fall foliage,” Which you don’t even enjoy because you look so differently than you did in your prime , you barely recognize yourself anymore. The next thing you know, you’re 5 miles down the road, in a Stranger’s yard (not even a nice one), Being raked into giant piles and stuffed into suffocating black garbage bags, Kicked to the curb to ferment a little while, and then Carted off by some rather grubby-looking men to be burned and cremated. By that point, you welcome it.