Leaving

Photo: (c) Jamie K. Reaser

On these mornings you can hear the trees themselves
speaking, not the birds that have lifted into currents
and gone on two miraculous wings. There is grief
in their voices, and relief. You know what this feels
like, if you have lived. Leaving: letting go of what no

longer serves the body and soul, often the heart. I can

standby, beside and underneath, and give some sense

of comfort by telling them how beautiful this process

is, how I admire the way they do it with the bold

prospect of witnesses.

I think that relating to the leaf is harder than relating

to the tree, unless you consider that the bird left

the tree for some grand adventure, and then you go on to

realize that we are all leaving each other constantly.

Our old selves, too.

It was a tree, on one of these delicate barren mornings, 
that said to me: 

“I love to watch you change and grow.”

~ Jamie K. Reaser, Author

From "Plant Songs" (a work in progress)

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