Two Fallen Leaves

Two Fallen Leaves

Photo by Nancy Merical

On a late autumn morning in the year 2000, shortly after my aging father's disappearance, my husband and I walked the graveled road above our summer cabin. A small leaf fell, coming to rest at my feet. As we walked on, the world turned slowly on its axis, no one aware of the fallen leaf but myself and God. I wrote the first two stanzas of this poem that day. My mother then died in February, 2001, alone in her back yard. Dad’s body was discovered April 19th of the same year. After my parents' funeral, I wrote the remaining stanzas.

One leaf fell. Time walked on, Unaware one leaf was gone. The sun still arose, the tree still grew, Leaves unfurling in the morning dew. Unmindful of this one leaf that fell, The earth spun on like a carousel. One leaf fallen from our family tree, Suspending the passing of time for me. That one leaf lay in the morning dew, But where it lay, God only knew. That October night, as this one leaf fell, The earth spun on like a carousel. The tree wept in the October sun, Leaves falling and covering the one, Camouflaging it where it lay. Time marched on from day into day. Unmindful of the one leaf that fell, The earth spun on like a carousel. From autumn into spring, time marched on, Our hearts still grieving for this leaf long gone. Then one day, where we could not see, Another leaf fell from our family tree. We now grieved two leaves that fell While the earth spun on like a carousel. Then one April day, a man walked by; In the fallen leaves, something caught his eye. As new leaves unfurled and the tree still grew, The first leaf was found in the morning dew. Time walks on since those two leaves fell, And the earth spins on like a carousel. © 2001

For more about Mom and dad, see Nonfiction link

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