Leaves
I wrote this poem in anticipation of being a new grandmother. My grandson is turning one as the fall leaves are changing colors, and this poem remains very poignant to me. A new generation is beginning as the older generation matures fully into fading. This is the cycle of life that does not relinquish despite our protests. But, our cries of resistance are tempered by seeing life continue on from us, from our very being. We discover ourselves finding immortality, defying death, in this new birthing.
Realizing I am now the first generation that is giving way to a new third provokes me to pause and reflect on the innate beauty of the cycle of life. Things around me are ceding to change with a new vision and reason. There is hope in knowing God’s purposeful intention is an expression of His love for us. So my heart is full of newfound joy and gratitude to be a part of something so magnificent and sublime.
Leaves
Leaves from green to orange to brown to gone
The wind whistles this age old familiar song
Life to death, death to rebirth, life to death
So many times over with grief we have wept
The rose wilts, verdant fields wither, beauty fades
Lingering then into dust to meet the grave
The cycle repeats and keeps the same beat
Despite the vanquished vanish, there is not defeat
Generations on generations bear witness to this eternal question
Our binding goal is not mundane but of Heaven
No one can escape the infallible corporeal lesson
But we still live on in what was spawned in procession
So unyielding joy and hope can still be relished and found
In a baby’s first cry and a fledgling’s soft sound
The sublime of God is there to revel with celebration and jubilee
This purposeful cycle of life is what is meant to be -
-Dr. Rhonda Milner
"Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare."
Psalm 40:5
"Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death— they are like the new grass of the morning:" Psalm 90:5
"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end."
Ecclesiastes 3:11
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Listen to Dr. Rhonda read "Leaves"