I knew a leaf
Once a magnificent leaf
I watched him bud
And yawn and shiver
On my favorite tree
He whistled in spring
And sunned in summer
He took great pride
In keeping raindrops off
Of hiding children beneath
But then Autumn came
And he grew tired
He lost his looks
And his boyish verve
One day while walking
I heard him ask
What’s happening to me
I looked up saying
It’s time to go
But you’ll be back
In the hearts of
Those who remember you
There comes a time
In every man’s life
When growing from sapling
To tree from trying
To doing and from
Student to teacher only
He knows when it’s
Time to push out
To bud then shade
And eventually fall only
To start over again
Until he becomes something
Else a door floor
Or even a memory
My forever is behind
Me having been spent
But never squandered what
Used to be a
Map is now a
Scrapbook it’s funny how
Fast things happen how
Quickly life fills in
The blanks and love
The colors now if
You are young and
Especially if old save
Only your pennies and
Spend absolutely everything else
After having just completed
My first good poem
I leapt to my
Feet in front of
My mentor and screamed
I found my voice
He grabbed my shoulder
And sat me down
Saying my dear boy
You’ve just begun to
Whisper and now forty
Years and thousands of
Poems I write with
The raspy voice of
Age preferring to whisper
Leaving the yelling to
The young and wondering
After all of this
Have I ever found
My voice at all
The most important thing
Is to never ever
Forget humility with grace
None of us are
Better than the other
Each of us is
Greater than someone else
In some way that’s
What makes humanity beautiful
We work together sharing
Our strengths and not
On capitalizing on weaknesses
Turn to someone today
And say that they
Are great and see
What happens humility with
Grace will spring forth
I promise you that
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 