Stubborn

February leaves

Still clinging to their branch

Quaking and shaking

in the icy evening breeze

Having watched the leave piles below

Be raked, bagged

And carried away

Why are they so intent

on seeing the winter through?

On being pushed away by the new, green buds

For a final, defeated spiral down, down

Is it resilience? Resolve?

Or is it that change can knock all the breath out of you and we are always able to hold on longer than we dreamed?

And one day we look back in wonder at how we were stronger than we knew –

And maybe our stubbornness is bigger than our defeatism

And maybe our fight is louder than the sirens of hopelessness

Just maybe

It’ll take a winter to know for sure.