Reflection on a life

Just a season ago

A life budded

Connected to the branch

Becoming an integral part

Supplying life to the tree

In its short life span

It gave of itself fully

Taking water and nutrients

Returning nourishment

A symbiotic cycle

Providing beauty 

Supplying shade

Offering protection

Taking little

Giving much

Then the days are shortened

As the seasons change

The nutrient supply stops 

The process of dying begins 

The world takes note 

As the chlorophylls (greens) degrade

Xanthophylls (yellows) 

And Beta-carotene (oranges)

Take the center stage 

Then anthocyanins (reds) emerge

Time, wind, rain

Eventually a separation 

Another stage in life’s process

Here we find our red leaf

On the ground, reflecting 

This is life

This is how it works

All of life in this microcosm 

Birth, life, death, and beyond

Giving and receiving 

We are born

Even as a suckling child

We give love in the fullest

We take

And we give

We grow

The process continues

As we take less

We give more

Beauty, shade, protection

The life imperative 

To give in greater amounts

To provide more than we take

To see this at the end

Reflecting on a life

Blessed are the givers 

Casting their bread on the water

Generosity is its own reward

Blessings always find their way

They will come home again

Reflections on a life

© Ron Simpson Jr. 

November 18, 2020