Urge me to drop every leaf I don’t need

Every task or habit I repeat past its season

Every sorrow I rehearse

Each unfulfilled hope

I recall

Every person or possession to which I cling

Until my branches are bare

Until I hold fast to nothing

Tutor me through straining night winds,

In the passion of moan and pant,

At the moment of most abundance

The gift of letting go

In the way of falling apples, figs, maple leaves, pecans

Show me the way of dying in glorious boldness,

Yellow, gold, orange, rust, red, burgundy.