THE DIVE
is it the wind that rips the leaf from its stem
which produces its downward spiral
or am I deceived by an illusion
is it merely a tickle that awakens the leaf
and inspires it to shudder
not so much in fear of the descent before it
but in a bittersweet ecstasy
of leaving behind its days of sunlight radiance
for the short but spectacular dive
in which it floats moment by moment
in an airy sea of blissful grace
turning and twisting in its grand release
until eventually it lands upon the earth
and heaving a sigh of relief
shaking behind all remnants of duty
to feeding its former mother tree
and embracing instead the mother soil
for which it now shall nourish
with its steady and eventual demise
realizing at last that it is
home again