Cycle of Leaf

While I sit up high on lofty branches,
I watch the world go by.
I do not envy life in the trenches,
Far from the reaches of the sky.

No, I would climb to e’en grander heights
And be atop the world,
For e’en if cold mountaintop be my plight
Yet higher still would be my goal.

High above your heads, O you passersby,
I gather with my kin.
You seek out our shade and we wonder why
You'd hide from warm sunlight therein.

O, to bask in sunlight’s awesome glory!
It is our lifelong quest,
For without this work our kind host’s story
Would be cut short, eternal rest.

And so I live for one short season
And watch the world go round
‘Til I, at last, withered beyond reason,
Alone fall gently to the ground.