Second Sight

Sometimes we think it’s death is seen,
when second birth lies close at hand –
the autumn leaf flung from the tree,
incision at the chosen time,
a stage required for buds in spring.
So this focussed, bedraggled, sad
may not be as we would deem –
for countless times I hear, observed
from dark despair some light emerged.
As active beauty fades from site
we, pupils, learned that sight, the law.
But given grace – for that we are –
and season’s turning as it will –
with space for healing, pulse and thought,
find more at work than first was scene.