I am the leaf by Carl

I budded, grew, swooned and flew;
I learnt, I lived, I fell in love,
and russet, with the sunset, fell;
I'm rotting now.

I invite the storm;
I invite as much wintry strife
as can be conjured or can come
because I enjoy the snow.

It's all I have - at my russet
end of life: my fight for death
in dignity. I am the leaf:
it is my fundamental right.

****

To explain: we are, each of us, leaves - all of us temporary, with our own wintertimes. This poem is just about living to the full to the very end and, come the time, about dying with as much dignity as our personal circumstances will allow. Of course, more often than not, one's dignity while dying is in somebody else's hands. But dignity is every person's fundamental right.

All articles on this website by Carl are copyright ©Carl and should not be reproduced without the author's prior written consent. All opinions are the opinions of their respective authors and are not necessarily the opinions of The Writers' Circle.

Comments

debbie reynolds

24 December 2008

Hear! Hear! I totally agree, it's our life but someone else always has the upper hand over us! Brilliantly composed, more please. Merry Christmas xxx

chum600

04 December 2009

I've only been on the site a week but am impressed by the quality of this poem - it captivates a lot of what so many of us aspire too. I am cautious to ask where are you now - it is nearly a year since this was posted. We need more!

audreyhepburn

09 December 2009

Hey!
I like this poem- the title inrigued me, and I agree with your closing statement.
audreyhepburn

iram 24

01 February 2010

I totally agree with what you are saying. We are born, we live, we learn and then some day like all our friends we too die. May god bless us all and assure we all die with our dignity untouched as I know there are many who die with their dignity tarnished.

iram 24

01 February 2010

I totally agree with what you are saying. We are born, we live, we learn and then some day like all our friends we too die. May god bless us all and assure we all die with our dignity untouched as I know there are many who die with their dignity tarnished.

Sue Daniel

20 October 2010

I read the oldest of your work first, and found my very simple mind confused, but I kept reading till I found this one.  

This one is infinitely better than the first (from a humble and comparitively uneducated point of view).  Your early work is sadly beyond me, but I can identify with the powerful message conveyed in "I am a Leaf".  

Then I saw the date of your work, and realised that you might have left the site, or worse - given up.

I do hope you haven't stopped writing?

Don't give up.

I'm sure there are more like this one in your heart.

Also see: A Poem about God's special touch (Elisha) • One more love poem (Elisha) • Poem about love, one of the first I ever wrote (Elisha) • A poem about poetry (Elisha) • Super Wal-Mart Man (SouthernPoet) • Night After Night (SouthernPoet) • My Imagination (SouthernPoet) • Coma (wild bill28) • What Is Love (SouthernPoet) • A Sonnet of the Wars of the Roses (DeUndrae)

Kudos

From 10 votes

	Vote for this
	Add a comment
	Favourite this

Writer Carl	Total posts: 473
Roles: Editor , Moderator , Judge , Writer

North Wales, UNITED KINGDOM

My Facebook page

My twitter page

MyNovel novel writing software

CVWriter CV writing software

I am the editor of The Writers' Circle and I hope you enjoy using this website. Contact me ( carl@writerscircle.biz ) if you are a published author who wishes to be interviewed and publicized via ... (Read more)

My collections