I am the autumn leaf

I am the autumn leaf

And I fall.

A slow meander,

Twisting and turning.

Blown higher, lower.

Carried by a careless wind

I cover great distance,

Only to be snatched back,

As a subtle shift

Alters my momentum

And turns me closer to the tree.

I grow flaky at the edges.

Shades of old gold,

Tinged with brown,

Veined with silvered grey

I am nothing more than powder,

And the landing takes my breath away.

Shatters the illusion

So foolishly created,

That I could fly.

When in truth, I was just carried.

And as I rest upon the ground

I feel myself dissolving.

What energy I had

Easily dissipating.

Not in pointless desiccation,

But an evolving

Permutation,

I am in truth

A state of

Endless vegetation.