An evocative poem about nature, love and longing, exclusively for Different Truths.

Red and brown leaves
Caught in a chilly swirl
Fallen dead, while their parent lives;
Sure, winter’s on its way
But to survive it, is to make choices:
Good or bad left only for time to say.

We’re all slaves to our choices
Though sometimes it may feel a different way.
But I have to choose –
Between the classic, that has stood the test of generations –
Which as everybody knows,
Even if it’s not on our minds)
(Is the hardest test a book can pass,
For each generation is born to change Time’s flow
To turn its course in a direction
The previous never considered taking –
And then there’s the new books fresh off the press
Born from the misery and delight of present time
Read by readers with the most modern minds:
A generation always seeking change
Fighting and stumbling and standing up again.
What is it all for?

We don’t think of the generation to come;
Our work has no concern for our children:
We are young and all we’ll ever do is for our own sake,
To count our achievements and feel proud;
To be able to go to bed at night
Thinking our day’s work may have put us well in the big leagues…

And yet you find me, staring at the ceiling,
2:30 in the morning, sweaty and scared
That the winter I love so
Wouldn’t have stayed but for my desire:

The white snow shrouds all differences;
In sorrow every new thing is same as the old
But it’s peaceful not having to worry about a thing
When this all-white scenery is in front
Yet I find myself asking, “How long will this last?”
Because all it does is hide the truth
And when spring comes, the blossoms will blossom
But the forever barren tree, remain barren
Naked and exposed to all judgements.
Although not putting a thing up to invite judgement,
It is the most truthful and deceitful being.
This here is a cry for help
But there’s no one to help
Only a naked tree to gaze endlessly at.

Photo from the Internet