The Leaf

Thank you Chandar Seetharaman for taking this photo for me.

The leaf with its tracery of veins

Is a beautiful sight to see

That rich green sign of life and health

Is the way perfect is meant to be

But the passage of time and troubles

Slowly takes its toll

Leaving marks and flaws and blemishes

No longer perfect and whole

Yet who said you must be perfect

Who made that beauty’s goal

Are not the marks and blemishes

Those that truly make you whole?

Without the passage of time

And the signature of life on my skin

I could merely be a plastic leaf

And one that never lived

So look upon me and marvel

I am just a tracery of veins

I have lived my life completely

And bear the marks of pain.

And as the sunlight filters through

And lights me up once more

You can see the beauty of my life well lived

In the warm and golden glow.