Falling leaf

• Millie Zhong, Grade 11
• Poetry
• 2003

Green leaf among the bending boughs/
Hear the sky calling from between the branches/
Driving you mad, Making you dream/
Making you shake in the treetop’s iron grip/
Protesting, To ride the wind/
To claim the heavenly kingdom as your own

But even as you dream/
You know you are still too green/
And must await the coming of Autumn – Golden Autumn/
When you will dance freely amongst the clouds/
Never to return/

Yet when the Autumn wind did blow/
You stepped not onto her waiting wings/
But slid instead down her flowing hair/
To lie on the dark earth/
Which you did avoid, All summer long/
Never seeking to rise again/