The dead piled up, thick, fragrant, on the fire escape. My mother ordered me again, and again, to sweep it clean. All that blooms must fall. I learned this not from the Dao, but from high school biology. From "Autumn Leaves" by Marilyn Chin All th...

Thus all doth fall. This hand of mine must fall And lo! the other one:—it is the law. But there is One who holds this falling Infinitely softly in His hands. From "Autumn" by Rainer Maria Rilke I find comfort in the idea of falling Infinitely so...

Burning your way to centre is the loneliest fire of all. You’ll know you have arrived when nothing else will burn. Mark Nepo I have been working on letting go for a long time. I choose words of the year like deciduous and surrender. I spend time...

1 : falling off or shed seasonally or at a certain stage of development in the life cycle <deciduous leaves><deciduous scales> 2 : having deciduous parts <maples, birches, and other decid...