A leaf it wanders slowly down,
A creek while turning red to brown.
Forgetting all that came before,
Decaying more and more and more.

Once vibrant green and full of life,
This fragile leaf is now in strife.
For soon the creek it will become,
A faster flowing river run.

An older leaf it always knows,
How water in the river flows.
It’s fast and fierce and never kind,
It leaves the older leaves behind.

To watch the river flowing past,
To see it all go by so fast.
To sit and watch, and want but lack,
To slowly turn from brown to black.