"Outof Season" by Annaliese Ludvigson

If a leaf falls from a tree

It will never go home To its former branch. It will never have another chance To be the brightest red Or the darkest green

The leaf, however, Will never grow again either.

Like the leaf from the tree, So the snow falls from the sky.

If a flake escapes a cloud

It will never return To its house of cold.

It will never have another moment To be the most ornate flake Or the simplest dot in the sky.

The snow, nonetheless, Will never crystallize again either.

Like the snowflakes fall from the sky, So does the flower bloom.

If a flower blooms, It will never shutter itself And retreat inward again.

It will never return to its shyness

To be a small bud hugging itself

Close and blocking out the world. The flower, though, Will never bloom again either.

So like the flower blooms, So do the birds leave their nests.

If a bird leaves its nest

It never retreats

To its former solace again.

It will never be embraced by a mother

As the most timid bird in the nest Or the first that begins to fly.

The bird, however, Will still sing again.

And like the bird leaves for the summer, So do we turn the page for our next chapter.

When we turn that page, We move with the fear that We may never go back again.

One day, we may turn the page one last time And we may finish the book, Instead beginning a new book that waits to be written.