Naming the Way<\/p>\n
By<\/p>\n
Jennifer Angelina Petro<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Go outside late October.<\/p>\n
Lock your eyes on one falling leaf.<\/p>\n
Try to find the moment<\/p>\n
As close to the beginning<\/p>\n
Of it\u2019s letting go from the branch<\/p>\n
As you can. Really follow that leaf\u2014<\/p>\n
That one in a million leaf.<\/p>\n
Train your eyes on it.\u00a0 Focus.<\/p>\n
Notice the way the wind carries it,<\/p>\n
Breathes it.\u00a0 Watch how it turns<\/p>\n
Gently over and around, catching little<\/p>\n
Fleeting currents, and then<\/p>\n
Smoothing out into a kind<\/p>\n
Of easy drifting.\u00a0 Its descent held<\/p>\n
In the palms of the wind.\u00a0 See<\/p>\n
How golden.\u00a0 See how tenderly<\/p>\n
It is placed in the stream.<\/p>\n
Give that leaf a name\u2014your<\/p>\n
Name, and then,<\/p>\n
Go back inside<\/p>\n
To pray.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n