Right now, I am a decaying leaf
Let me be
I have been a bud before; full of potential and hope
I have grown, transformed, and blown in the breeze
I have endured storms, been shit on by birds, clung on for dear life
I have felt the coming of the season of death
I have watched others fall and perish
I have died and been reborn, over and over
This is the season of rot
Let me lie
Do not rake me up with your affirmations
Do to try to keep my color with your praise
Do not pick me up and place me in your pocket...
hoping for a resurrection
I am gone
Leave me dead
I will return to the ground; reborn in the spring
But I will be different
Maybe a blade of grass, a fungi, a sprig of moss
No longer a leaf
Let me change
Watch the miraculous rebirth from a distance
Take photos with your phone
Love that I exist at all
...But leave me still.
