Graceful and Green, Brittle and Brown

Once elevated high above the ground,
absorbing the great warmth and light of the magnificent sun.
Once part of a family,
living in an abundance of branches and leaves.
It was free and wild,
Once swaying in the breeze.

I recall the moment of how graceful it looked,
As it drifted toward the ground.
Separated from the bush of green leaves that once surrounded it.
Falling,
fluttering,
Flying, caught in the grasp of the morning breeze,
Eventually drifting aimlessly toward the carpet of leaves below it.

And until I plucked it from the ground,
Its life was to cease lying in the shadows of the forest floor.
But now, it has become immortalised.
Captured in an artwork of delicacy,
Its brittle body withered with age and maturity.
It hangs on the wall,
like it once clung to the tree it was born on.
Who knew something so small,
so insignificant,
Could be something of beauty and character.