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I took a walk through
summer's shedding,
a huge colored quilt
just mother nature's bedding.
for the winter which will
surely be very cold,
when she lies very still
and dreams of a summer
snug and warm from the chill.
I watched May, June, July
and August unfold,
tattered bits of bright color
in colors so bold,
flung high in the air,
then falling in a pattern
far beyond any brilliance
any painting could share,
I delighted in busy
squirrels burrowing
in humus
for the acorns laid waste,
long term food for their stomaches
I once made acorn soup
but it was bitter to taste,
though I boiled for hours,
what I 'd pounded into paste.
and I once dined on leaves
in a moment of famine
maple sugar leaves can fill ya,
but it's the chewing
and the jamming
of such a dry, dinner
into a mouth that begs steak,
they can be sweet as sugar
but I'd rather have had cake.
Then I bent down to
once more affirm my beliefs,
that evolution's a hoax,
just study 10 different leaves,
each one strangely unique
in its patterns and veins,
painted by the great Master,
not something random explained.
Plus the leaves all have purpose,
they shelter tree roots,
from the icy mausoleum
that makes us humans wear boots,
and beneath the thick piles
tiny creatures find warmth
laying eggs, hibernating
till Spring when their reborn.
and from where each leaf tumbles
a tiny bud has been formed,
in hard, brown shell waiting
for the weather to warm,
then new leaves will burst
in a bright vibrant fan
bringing hope to the masses,
bringing green to drab lands.
But for now I go kicking
through a mosaic of color,
feeling just like a toddler,
on a hike with my mother,
and around me some folks
gaze in awe at a man,
In a long leather trench coat,
with some leaves in his hand,
cavorting like a kid
in a body grown past
that wee child inside me
who always gets the last laugh.
Sometimes I get to wishing
that my dying will be
like a fresh fallen leaf,
from my family tree,
leaving little buds behind me
as I fly merrily
from where I've
perched for years,
watching each season flee,
adding much to the world
as I fade quite slowiy
in the winter of death
till I'm no longer me,
and I simply become
fertilizer for trees.
