This wild mountain plant
So fresh and flowered in Spring and Summer
Now decays in late October's slanting sunlight

It will rise again,
Lush green and brilliant yellow
Obeying Nature's regenerative imperative

I once pondered that flowering plants
And Man and all living things
Have a purpose selfish unto each, separately --

To live, to regenerate, to live again,
Directly or through its progeny
But for each kind, alone

I now realize this plant exists, as does Man,
For all the other living things nourishing and dependent on
This messenger of The Life Force

And it exists even for and by
The soil and air and water,
Inanimate as they may be perceived

These are not unique or astounding thoughts,
Having been thought and expressed
In different ways by others

But the realization of them
Through one's own observations and processes
Somehow makes them more vivid and real

One feels fuller, more complete
Through such a direct realization --
From observing the fading mule ears of Autumn

10/31/1999

Posted on 01/03/2002
Copyright © 2024 Ronald A Pavellas