Tender Leaves

O, tender leaves, worry thou not,

You may be soft and gentle, but resilient,

Cling to your grit and tenacity,

Fear thou not, the sturdy winds or the mighty rain.

Your delicateness is your superpower,

For life’s secrets, you doth know well,

Adults grow into baffling puppets,

Strangling themselves with maturity and experience.

Like our kids, effervescent and free,

You, too, are bubbling and glowing,

Unique is your ‘now’, don’t let it go,

As you bloom together in clusters.

Look, how you don’t have the pressure,

Building up on you, forcing you to grow up,

Leaving you distraught with expectations,

Like our pretty little children, overburdened relentlessly.

Compare not, nor cease to spread your light,

Your vivaciousness is a lesson in itself,

Your energy for some to behold and transform,

You’re not a waste, you’re the basic.