Tears Falling Like Leaves
by Veronica Monet
The red maple outside my front door
Teases me with her gorgeous display
Scarlet leaves bursting with emotion
Seemingly oblivious that
They will soon litter the ground
Like forgotten victories
Is this the rebirth?
Or just an agonizing slow death?
Is there a difference?
My friend’s face once a dazzling display
Of feminine grace and beauty
Ravaged now by an unexpected cancer
Her heart breaking and grieving with
Every mirror’s gaze and the callous
Commentary from her aging sexist father
Can she see the Eternal Beauty
Shining from her blue eyes?
Or will she wither with shame?
My little furry roommate
Once tearing up steep mountain trails
Mistaken for a puppy for so many years
Beckons me to pick her up
As the life leaves her hind legs
And her aging mind wanders in confusion
Does she know she is leaving?
Do her dreams take her to her future?
And will our souls ever dance again?
My mother did not want to remember
The things her grandfather did to her
Now she doesn’t even know who I am
Her forgetting has become a way of life
Like a long sad ritual I say goodbye to her
One piece at a time for what feels like forever
If there had been a way to help her
I would have
But this tragedy is inevitable
My Beloved’s years as a triathlete
Scaling steep mountains
Sculpting a gorgeous masculine frame
Celebrating every sensual sinew
His legs now falter where once they triumphed
The grief is too deep to speak so we laugh at fate
Is this the rebirth?
Or just an agonizing slow death?
Is there a difference?
Tears falling like leaves
And yet those leaves
Are so beautiful
