The Leaves From Trees

His back ached,

Hunched under the weight of

Accumulated seasons and

Uncounted years.

Joints groaned as he surveyed

Himself, limbs gnarled and worn,

The hand of wind and sun and sand

Having shaped him as it

Saw fit.

A slight murmur of a chill,

Ensconced between warm folds

Of Indian summer,

Reminded him that he was not

To be spared from Autumn's caress;

The conflagration that swept from leaf to leaf

Would also scorch his crown

and coax from him a display of fiery hues

Before he faded into the monochrome.

He held on firmly to the earth

In fain acceptance of his

Coming declension.

Summer-blue sky paled at Autumn's approach,

And he felt his colors begin to burn themselves

To ash;

He hoped one day to again

Be dressed in nature's finery,

But perhaps this winter

Would be his last.

Author's Note

An old, wizened tree.
A man's struggle against and acceptance of disease/death.

Reviews

[FJ Davis]

Man or tree, the "grey" inevitably sets in.
For a human being, this experience is increasingly unpleasant and most unsettling when all the individual's hopes are primarily placed in the physical--when the aging know only to continually assess their situation by the relatively little their five senses can determine. A demonstrably foolish investment, since the physical body represents the precise agent of betrayal.
Typically, "The Leaves From Trees" is extremely well-written and starkly imaged; a smartly styled, ably dramatized metaphor that, as far as I'm concerned, nicely accomplishes what it sets out to do.

[Victoria PoetryBunny]

Oh very nice, I love how you used a old tree, to describe the happening of disease and death with a man's struggle, from your author's note. Very very nice how you did that, and so well written in comparison to a old tree.

[Coyote Poetry]

I enjoyed this poem. Old age make us reach for things lost and we need to be found.
"He held on firmly to the earth
In fain acceptance of his
Coming declension.'
I like the ending. Sometime hope can fade with time. Thank you for the excellent poetry.
Coyote

[FaithfullyJennyBear]

Wow, this is actually amazing, I love how you refer to the tree as a person, you've obviously put a lot of thought into this, it' actually amazing :)

[Bryan Micheni]

this is brilliant, nothing short of it