Letting Go
Imagine a man standing under Sycamore trees
Near a slow moving stream.
Imagine behind him young mothers push strollers.
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It is Autumn. Wind rustles the aging yellow leaves flutter.
He has been here many times before.
He is watching turtles slip from a fallen tree into the stream.
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Imagine a few leaves twist upward and fall. The trees are letting go.
I remember letting go of my father’s hand running to a stream we were about to fish.
I remember him letting go laughing carrying long thin rods.
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Imagine small ducks drift across the shimmering water
And the leaves letting go of air and color surrender to the stream.
Small fish swim in the water feeding.
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I imagine my wife behind the man pulling her sweater over her shoulders.
Maybe life is one long lesson in letting go.
Too soon, I will have to let go of all of this.
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Imagine letting go of the man, the stream, the park,
All disappearing into the golden light pushing up through the Sycamore trees.
Imagine the light disappearing.