Angel A Martinez
Stepping on a leaf wouldn’t cause a second glance
One insignificant leaf
A million are crumbled a day, who cares?
The leaf lost between hundreds, just the same as it
But looking up high, and see the tree of which it fell
Glimpses of every shade of green,
Some old, still holding off for dear life
Some young, starting to mature.
Springing out from different branches, from wide to long
Yet, remember this
They all rely on the same stem,
taking water and nutrients from the same stem
same ground
same light
A large family, all condensed to a single tree.
All fighting against storms and winds
So turn your eye to the leaf.
And appreciate the unique, beautiful leaf
that you were lucky to come across
A single leaf,
A single member of a unified heart, just as you
I was inspired to write this poem by the idea that something small, like a leaf, can still have deep meaning. I wanted to show how people can feel unnoticed, even though they are part of something bigger. I used imagery and symbolism to compare a single leaf to a person and the tree to a community. The poem is structured by first focusing on one leaf and then zooming out to the whole tree.