Trusting the Wind

Whispering tiresome groans of old age,
the leaves lose their grip,
and fall from the tops of the trees.
No one directs their path,
but they are carried by the wind
and settle wherever it brings them.
Some settle in the yard of a family with two children
who play in the pile they create.
Others tumble into an old mans yard,
he curses them and tells them not to come back.
He rakes them into piles and shuts them into bags.
Black bags, where they'll never see day again.
Their whole lives, they watch and try to choose
where they will land when the season ends.
They hope and they pray they can play with the kids,
but they learn to trust the wind
to take them to their rightful place.