I Don't Want to Be the Last Leaf
David Handsher
I don’t want to be the last leaf
on the tree shrunken and brown
shaking in the cold November rain
Even if I could I would not delight
in the fluttering and floating
as I make my way to the frozen ground.
I am a small part in the scheme of the tree.
I am nothing without the band of brothers
and chorus of sisters and cousins and friends
that surround me now on these still
green branches. I am nothing without
the essence that runs through me
from the roots. I am nothing without
the warmth of the sun. I am nothing
without the humid, living loam
that we rest in and grow from.
I am.
Nothing.
on the tree shrunken and brown
shaking in the cold November rain
Even if I could I would not delight
in the fluttering and floating
as I make my way to the frozen ground.
I am a small part in the scheme of the tree.
I am nothing without the band of brothers
and chorus of sisters and cousins and friends
that surround me now on these still
green branches. I am nothing without
the essence that runs through me
from the roots. I am nothing without
the warmth of the sun. I am nothing
without the humid, living loam
that we rest in and grow from.
I am.
Nothing.
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David Handsher lives in San Francisco and is a labor arbitrator. Poetry has been a life-long obsession for him and is a craft he continues to try to learn. His poems have recently appeared in several literary magazines and on-line publications.
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