I often have thoughts of you,
Tho' you are not with me, alive.
I have also known tho' you are gone,
In my thoughts you would survive.

I am because you were,
I now see what you meant.
You're still a part of my life,
You are someone I will never forget.

Not long from now this will become
Just a hidden memory.
How sad it was, how cruel
It all will seem to me.

I'll try to forget,
I'll know it wasn't right.
You had tried to forsee,
You had looked beyond sight.

You had hoped for the best,
You had wished it good.
I tried to ignore it,
I had hoped you withstood.

It was one of those things
On my list to pursue.
Mama, I need now to ask
What do I do without you?.

©r.l.strickland 94

Now the sky slowly clouds,
The rain will now, soon fall.
The wind ambles between the branches
Where leaves cling, not hearing the call.

They've spent their days a'dancing,
So free and growing and alive.
Not knowing that, when the sky becomes gray,
They will no longer be allowed to survive.

They sigh and they whisper
Whilst dancing in the breeze.
Wond'ring in the midst of themselves
When did the wind become cruel?
It only used to tease.

Wind races through from everywhere,
It's icy fingers lashing out.
Tearing them away from their harbors,
Sending them flying all about.

As the wind slows its' attack,
They float lightly to the ground.
Landing, one upon the other, sadly
They gather, without a sound.

Now they will sleep beneath a winters' snow,
To await the warm sping sun.
To become the forests' summer carpet.
New vision through branches just begun

©r.l.thompson 82