Yesterday, I stood beneath a tree.
Nothing special, really.
Just an ordinary afternoon,
the kind we usually forget.

A tiny leaf landed on my shoulder.
I watched it for a while,
wondering how far the wind had carried it
before bringing it to me.

Somewhere nearby, a bird was calling.
Another answered.
I couldn’t understand their conversation,
but somehow, I didn’t need to.

The sky was turning orange,
and the clouds looked like they were
slowly drifting away from the day.
I wish we noticed these things more.

The smell of rain before it falls.
The sound of leaves moving above us.
The warmth of sunlight on a quiet morning.

We are always looking for something beautiful,
somewhere far away,
when perhaps it has been right here
all along.

And that evening,
before I went home,
I looked back at the tree.

It was still standing there.

Just as it always had. 🌿