exquisite paradox

“All through autumn we hear a double voice: one says everything is ripe; the other says everything is dying. The paradox is exquisite.” — Gretel Ehrlich

orange leaves, red crabapples
rust & ruin
harvest & plenty
fall alike to the cold ground
forgotten, abandoned
to crumble to nothing,

or perhaps to sit
awaiting,
to feed birds
& squirrels,
to sink into the earth,
fecund, ripe,
crumbled leaves to nourish the seeds
perhaps next spring
a new tree will grow