Falling

Shady, rustling, green overhead,

at the tip of a branch, a flicker of red.

Laughing and careless, not looking ahead,

Eat, drink and be merry, is what they all said.

So they played and worked and risked and splashed,

they earned and spent, they cried, they crashed.

Some of them lingering, some of them gone,

and the ones who were left wondered how to go on. 

The leaves on the trees turned to colors of flame

As everyone realized life isn’t a game.

Some gain it all and discover thin air,

some attain nothing and faint in despair,

while everyone wonders if anything’s fair.

Why, we ask, when we cannot see,

and the leaf at the end of the branch of the tree

falls, but not down, as the wind blows free,

its dance through the sky is a mystery.

The depth of the sorrow, the height of the pain,

is something we never could clearly explain.

The world is broken—we cannot repair it,

the burden is crushing, with whom can we share it?

God knows how brokenness dampens our eyes,

He cares for us deeply—He does sympathize,

despising the damage, the wounds and frustration,

results of the curse that has ravaged Creation.

Thus He entered our mess in the form of a man,

tasted our troubles in full, so He can

completely relate to the anguish we face—

He sees us, He loves us, He offers His grace

through Christ who astoundingly died in our place.

Immortal, He died, but how can it be so,

The Source of Life buried with death down below?

We can’t understand, but in faith we believe,

He died and He rose so that we can receive

Life—mortal souls gain eternal reprieve.

Green leaves turn crimson and orange and gold,

then fall to the ground as the air becomes cold.

Bare branches spread their frail twigs like black lace,

between them the stars flicker starlight from space,

and secretly, quietly, God pours out grace.

The trees will again bear new leaves and new life,

and one day we all might find freedom from strife,

because of a tree that was stained with His blood.

Flowing red was the color of hope, peace and love,

falling down from the heart of our Father above.

(I wrote this poem as a favor for a friend.  It came together yesterday.)