- Leaves,
- once succulent with sap
- relax on grass and walkway,
- their season's work done.
- Returning now to essential elements,
- they sprinkle the earth
- with the promise of tomorrow
- and pleasure my ears
- with the slightly soggy crunch
- of their curling carcasses.
- Many of their fellows
- still cling to branches,
- unwilling yet
- to leap into the future.
- Am I still clinging
- to branches of outworn doubt
- unwilling to leap into hope?
Judy lives in Omaha, Nebraska where she is now a part-time library specialist, and is an educator/counselor. She has two grown children and one grandchild, and is an active new member in First Methodist Church. Judy wrote this while attending her first FAW event in October of 2001.