the leaves

October found the trees set ablaze. The colors were vibrant, passionate, intense.

It may seem that the leaves have prepared for months for a brilliant, firework display that is alive with color.

On the contrary, these leaves are not bursting with life; they are preparing to die.

Yet, we marvel at their beauty. There are even tours and events just to see them; we stop the bustle to breathe in their last burst of life.

It is glorious grief. The last hoorah. A final display of their life's work.

And then they fall. All the glory and passion is over. Against their will, they are piled in a heap to be burned, destroyed. The vibrant colors are replaced with lifeless grays.

And the world seems dead. For a time.

But the world does not share their grief, and the world does not die with them. Rather, the world accepts their fate. Because it knows that this is a season.

And their will be life again.