One Leaf Minus A Thousand Poem by Sonny Rainshine

Why is it so difficult
when looking at, say, a leaf,
without the imprint
of thousands of other leaves
distorting the view?

To be able to observe something
as we did the first time
we set eyes upon it,
when we were
also as fresh and new
as spring buds:
ah, now that would be
a noteworthy event.

If only we had known
back then the gravity,
the urgency of that first glimpse
of a rainbow, or even the reflection
of a rainbow in a still pond,
might we have written
better poems,
lived richer lives?