Reflecting on a leaf

Reflecting on  a leaf that lies alone,
Cut off the shrub or tree by wilful wind,
May touch a heart which now feels like a stone.

Beneath our generous flesh there lie our bones
Within a skeleton, a heart we find,
Reflecting on  a leaf that lies alone

From our lungs, we hear pathetic groans
As all the certainties once strong become untied
Then our hearts will feel like cold,  cold stones.

Yet on a kinder wind, red  leaves are borne
And left renewed in places more than kind
Food for ants, no more to lie alone

Inside my heart, an emptiness now yawns
But  like a womb, with rich velvet it’s lined
In truth, a heart is no kin to a stone.

To the dust and ash leaves are consigned
For a former neighbour do they pine?
Reflecting on  a leaf that lies alone
Will touch a heart no longer a cold stone.