I was meant to be happy
Most of all jolly
Every leaf represented me
One day
A girl came
She leaned on me
and took my angry leaf.
I couldn’t get mad at her
Another day
An old lady came
She said, “Ooh, what a beautiful purple leaf.”
And took my disgust leaf.
I couldn’t be disgusted by her
The next day
A little boy came
He sat near me
And took my fear leaf
I couldn’t be fearful for the rest of my leaves
The week after
A man came
He talked to me
And took my sadness lead
I couldn’t be sad that he took my leaf
A month after
A woman came and sang to me
She took my joy leaf
I couldn’t be jolly anymore
After that I felt no emotions
I felt nothing.
*Inspired by Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree.