i saw him

I saw him.

I caught a glimpse, in a single moment,

Like you’d catch a falling

Leaf, without a blink of thoughtful turn;

Still, with poise, I loosen not my grip;

I cannot shake it, being certain of what

I’ve seen, having looked in the mirror

And studied times without number -

I saw my likeness in his, my face

Replicated and transposed to another

Smaller than I and more comely,

Though, I was once as small and, perhaps,

As fair.  

He turned to face me,

(The leaf fell, and I was compelled to behold:

an invitation, from the tree,

Shedding - as father - his own seed, his very

Life, with one great wind, blown

To thousandths, offering to the ground a covering

Carpet of his essence) and I, having given

My body, receive it back,

Wearing himself my very eyes