The Shining Pathway

This is the second poem from Rev. Lawrence Keister.

Falling Leaves

Which the leaf that falleth next?
You can never tell.
Which the one that seekest place
Where the others fell?

Frost has touched them all alike,
And the rising sun;
Gentle breezes had their part,
Then attraction won.

Lifeless there upon the turf
Lie the forest leaves,
Mission ended, work all done--
Nature never grieves.

"Thousand summers kiss the lea,
Only one the leaf,"
Yet how great a task is done
In a life so brief.

Friendly little alchemists
Working day and night,
Building maples, elms and oaks,
Trees of girth and height.

Storms of summer you withstood,
Holding on with might;
Now with sudden impulse fall
Careless where you light.