On my walk this morning I stopped to ponder a tree that was still full of leaves in December. It didn’t seem any more protected than other trees or stronger or taller. It was just a tree along our road and it got me to pause, look, and pay attention to the landscape and wonder about the last leaf of the season.
You Can’t
They will fall in the end,
those who say you can’t.
It’ll be age or boredom that overtakes them,
or lack of imagination.
Sooner or later, all leaves fall to the ground.
You can be the last leaf.
You can convince the universe
that you pose no threat
to the tree’s life.
— Maya Abu Al-Hayyat from You Can Be the Last Leaf, Maya Abu Al-Hayyat & Fady Jouda, Milkweed Editions, 2022