Soliloquy of a Leaf

Ask’em, they’ll tell you.
   They’ll tell you, they’re here.
Just try’em, they’ll answer.
   They’re angels; don’t fear.

So jogging one day,
   Through a brisk autumn breeze,
I challenged my angel;
   His test, my tease.

What I asked for was simple,
   Not majestic, not grand,
“Just put a leaf,
   Right in my hand?”

My jog for two miles,
   Was busy that day.
The leaves, they were falling,
   Along the whole way.

So I ran and I prayed,
   Through this myriad of leaves,
But they seemed to move from me,
   As though I; a breeze.

A little dejected,
   A little chagrined,
I’d tested my angel,
   A negative quest in.

The next day I jogged,
   Was calm as could be,
A rare leaf would fall,
   If you were looking to see.

I jogged up the first half,
   With rosary I prayed,
And started for home,
   To the rest of my day.

Then rounding a bend,
   Through a canopied stretch,
I wondered, my testing,
   I’m an angelic wretch?

Then there, to the right,
   Some twenty feet high,
A leaf falling freely,
   Yet leading my stride.

I kept my same motion,
   No sprint, no delay.
My right hand just turned,
   To catch, angel’s play.

A leaf from my angel,
   As I held to my course,
They’re angels, they’ll answer,
   Be patient with yours.

• M.T. Hargadon 1999