Which Part Is the Forest

© Matthew Word Bain

freshly fallen leaves
still crisp even in water
traipsing down the waterfall
by now they must have settled
sodden to the bottom of the stream
and begun that languid process
whereby they will come to be
grounded in a whole new way
a reintegration by disintegration
though integrity is never lost
as the whole resides in each part
and no part is ever separate
from the whole process