The Last Leaf

I watched the last leaf fall from the maple today.
It sailed on the brisk breeze, in a slow motion free-fall.
Finally touching down, then rolling, rolling,
till it landed on the water in the ditch.

It floated sanguine and serene on the water,
it's upturned stem like a Viking ship's prow.
The curled up sides looking like swan wings
as it made the journey to its final destiny.

Why does Fall make me so sad?
I love the smell of burning leaves,
the cool crisp air, the riotous, rampant colorings
and the interplay between wind and sky.

But, as Canada geese honk their farewells,
I feel my own mortality and the life that passed me by,
My story left unwritten, just blank pages in a dusty, unopened book.
The autumn of my years, it's too late to change my life now...

And I watch as the leaf surges, strains and then swirls into the storm drain...