A poem

 

Closing

I opened, unaware of this world.

Naïve, a patient hand nurtured me from the soil.

I transformed, took leave of the trellis

That had been erected to support me.

I found my freedom, reached out with

My thin, tender stems to feel the sun.

I grew, looking everywhere for that light.

With the passing seasons I became bolder,

Put on a passionate display. Violent floral reds.

But inside me, in my roots and cells,

I felt empty. I witnessed foliage to the

Left and right of me dying, shriveling up.

I felt feeble. Then I came to acknowledge

My impermanence. I was a fragile being,

Just a straw, not even that. Then began my

Laughing days. I laughed as the leaves

Turned brown and the days shorter. Laughing,

As I knew I was dissolving, returning to

The soil. Now I am folding.

I am closing.

I'm here.

Benjamin Major

No new post this week as I have been working on writings that I hope to see published. The collection from which this poem comes, along with several older essays that will never see the light of day, can now be found on my brand new Scribd account.

Photo is by Flickr user hepp and is made available under a Creative Commons license