Autumn Leaf

Listening to daybreak birds Singing sweetly after a summer rain, I feel hopeful like I can create my existence As meaningful as a poem or a religious saint; I want to be someone who embraces life And makes it somewhat better Than the way I found it, Someone who cares in the face of suffering And who doesn't become shallow if blessed with gain. I don't want to be a man of double thoughts And unreliable to friends, I don't want to alter my purpose As easily as the direction of the breeze; Some people with the slightest change of circumstances Become different men and are never seen again, There is nothing left of their beauty of virtue, It is as if their kindness became an autumn leaf And blew away.