I picked up a leaf today
on my walk home
it was yellow and red
among the browns and oranges
it seemed to glow

I lifted it from the crowd
thinking to bring it home
before then considering what it wanted
was it friends with the leafs surrounding it?
or was it like me, alone
waiting for someone to notice, to help?

I halted in my path
trying to feel what it was willing me to do
after great thought,
I decided it had friends to return to

placing it as closely as I could from where I took it
so it could be with it's companions,
I took photos to remember it's beauty,
promising it that I would capture it's beauty
in a painting
so it could always be remembered
so it felt cared for
even if I hadn't done what it had hoped