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the teachings of a wise maple tree

by chrysanthemumcentury


i often walk in the forests; the leaves cascade down,

falling, gliding, and eventually find their final resting place:

the ground. each one piles onto the other, gently caressing

one another-- a blanket of foliage.

-

in this eventual downfall of each leaf, there is less a sense

of finality and more a sense of a deeper intracacy as they

learn to love one another, and finally become part of what

they came from: the roots & the tree, by extent.

-

now, if leaves were sentient, would they want to grace eachother

with protection from wind & heavy rainfall? or would they

each have an individual idiosyncrasy like all the humans do;

would they be selfish & brutal & unkind to all the other leaves?

-

see, humans are like that; we often are a brutal species,

gnawing and tearing apart every "other" leaf: red, orange,

yellow, brown, green. and we forget our greater purposes,

we forget how to give back to the dirt we walk on.

-

i walked down the street today: the air was cold but not

unforgiving. it was cold in a warm way; it made me feel like

i was somewhere beautiful, in the moment, and i watched as

a maple leaf flew down to the roots of the tree, fufilling its

greater purpose in life: to return to the soil it came from.


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Stickied -- Sun Sep 22, 2024 3:09 am
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chrysanthemumcentury says...



fall vibes B)

Spoiler! :
@EllieMae @alliyah -- thought about your fall poems while writing this, so have a tag 🎃




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Fri Sep 27, 2024 1:23 pm
SplendidiorVitro2 says...



Well done!




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Tue Sep 24, 2024 1:59 pm
LittleGirlGone wrote a review...



I really enjoyed reading this and I think you did great job! I like how it slowly shifts from just talking about the leaves to showing the link between them and human behavior. It shows the train of thought really well making it easier to understand.

The message of the poem fits my own world view perfectly and I always enjoy reading how people find new ways to bring it up. The imagery is so beautiful. The leaves give to us by giving us oxygen and they give to earth when their time comes when we are nothing more than just parasite on this planet using freedom as a reason to hate forgetting the greater purpose.

a maple leaf flew down to the roots of the tree, fufilling its

greater purpose in life: to return to the soil it came from.


I'm in love with this ending in particular. It sums it up perfectly returning to where you started giving the circle a closure. I'm really amazed how you can link something such as leaves into a bigger picture that touches all of us no matter how hard we try to deny it.

Keep writing!




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Sun Sep 22, 2024 7:01 pm
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candyhearts wrote a review...



Hai :3

I love this poem so much!! The way you write about nature feels like it has this deep sense of life and interconnectedness, like you’re really tapping into how the leaves and trees are part of a larger system. That imagery of the leaves and the humanization is so soft and almost intimate!! It’s not just about nature, it’s like you’re making us reflect on humanity and our connections too!! That's great!!

The contrast you build between the peaceful falling of the leaves and the brutality of humans is so good ~~ Like, it makes me think about how humans complicate things that could be so simple, like how the leaves just accept their place in the cycle of life. But we, as humans, tear each other apart. I love the way you ask if the leaves would have their own personalities or quirks like humans!! That’s such a cool thought!! It kind of made me pause and think like, oh, maybe nature has it all figured out more than we do. That's a very insightful point of view to write from.

now, if leaves were sentient, would they want to grace eachother
with protection from wind & heavy rainfall?


Like I said, I adore this concept !!!

Though, I think you might be able to push that further!! When you mention humans tearing apart other leaves (red / orange / etc.), it’s a strong idea, but it could hit even harder if you showed a bit more of the brutality you’re talking about. For example, you could add specific examples of how we "forget our greater purposes" to ground the metaphor even more. Right now, the leaves feel like a detour before you jump back into the human vs. nature comparison. It falls a bit flat.

i walked down the street today: the air was cold but not
unforgiving. it was cold in a warm way


The final lines have to be my favorite ~~ It’s like this perfect moment of peace where the leaves return to the earth, and it ties together all the reflections you made earlier about life and purpose. There’s a real warmth to that ending, like finding peace in the inevitable. I think that's something that a lot of people can find comfort in!! That's what poetry is about, after all. There are so many vibes here, and I'm loving the autumnal homeliness I feel with this. It's the best season, right?

^^^ I think like there’s a lot of warmth in your description of the leaves and the forest, but the sentence “cold in a warm way” feels underdeveloped. There are no real sensory details to set the scene. Like, instead of saying "cold in a warm way," what if you described how it felt on your skin, or what the contrast really makes you think of emotionally? Give the reader some context!! Like, what if you hinted at that purpose instead of saying it outright too? There is so much room to expand!!

This is amazing though!! I think you’ve got such a strong concept and the writing is beautiful, as it always is. I'm a big fan of your poetry!! <3

- Payton




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Sun Sep 22, 2024 6:57 pm
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EllieMae wrote a review...



Hey friend! First of all, this poem feels so mature. I love seeing all the different styles that you can write with, which all form this one sense of you. I absolutely adore this poem, because of how rich and detailed and beautiful it is. I feel like you can interpret the poem so many different ways, and that everyone who reads it can find different meaning in it.

see, humans are like that; we often are a brutal species,

gnawing and tearing apart every "other" leaf: red, orange,

yellow, brown, green. and we forget our greater purposes,

we forget how to give back to the dirt we walk on.


One thing that I love to do is meditate. This poem reminds me a lot of grounding exercises that I've done before. It's not exactly a grounding piece, but the words that you write with bring me back to these "roots". I love the idea of giving back to the dirt that we walk on. It's true, we so easily forget about these paths that we have followed, and forget about what has really been raising us up our entire lives. I like these foundational elements that you use; going right back to the elements, breathing in and breathing out the beauty that we can find in nature.

i walked down the street today: the air was cold but not

unforgiving. it was cold in a warm way; it made me feel like

i was somewhere beautiful, in the moment, and i watched as

a maple leaf flew down to the roots of the tree, fufilling its

greater purpose in life: to return to the soil it came from.


I love how many different senses you attached to this. We have our physical feelings of coldness or warmth, but I feel like they transition into this mental aspect, too. Reading this poem, I feel a sense of loss, but also a sense of safety and what is familiar. It's interesting how what is familiar can be ever changing as well, just like leaves, falling off of a tree, or the seasons, which rotate over and over.

I love this message that you share. Finding our greatest purpose in life, which is returning to where we came from. Perhaps this can represent so much more, like finding our roots, finding our people, finding our family and those who love us, and where we have come from and who we truly are. Nature is beautiful. But it's also different. There's so many different species and colors and varieties, that we can feel like we never truly have a place. I love the message that you share in the safety that I feel reading this. Overall, I love this poem, so thank you for sharing. I really really love the neat organization and structure of your lines.

Your friend,
Ellie




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Sun Sep 22, 2024 6:29 pm
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theromanticchemist wrote a review...



Hey century, coming in with a review for this amazing poem!
My first impression of this is how FALL it was. This poem is dripping with autumn vibes! You accomplished that.
Your imagery is honestly amazing here. I can feel that clear picture of the leaves falling down. It’s so cool! The message is also amazing and so philosophical. I would have never thought about leaves like that.
I also love the line where you talk about being cold in a warm way--I think that’s something a lot of people can relate to. Overall, I loved this and can’t wait to see more!





Believe only half of what you see, and nothing that you hear.
— Edgar Allan Poe