Two Leaves

Two beautiful leaves hung side by side;

One proudly thought ’twas two strongly tied

To the tree that its very life supplied.

 

It twisted and twirled and was never still;

It murmured, complained, and sighed, until

It was free to follow its own sweet will.

 

Awhile it floated in balmy air;

The butterflies said it was very fair,

The soft winds tossed it here and there;

 

Then it fluttered down from sunny skies,

A faded, forgotten thing, to lie

Alone on the cold, damp earth, and—die.

 

The other leaf was content to be

Where it was placed on the parent tree,

Knowing, though bound, ’twas most surely free.

 

So it lived and grew, in sweet content

Doing each day’s work, ’till, the summer spent,

With autumn fruitage the boughs were bent.

 

The fruit was golden and fair to see,

And the leaf rejoiced exceedingly,

For was not the leaf a part of the tree?

 

Shall I read the moral, O soul, to thee?

Christ says, “Ye cannot fruitful be,

Except, by faith, ye abide in Me.”

 

Grass Valley Methodist, ST Vol. 12, No. 4.