Aleksandra Lachut - One Leaf

Skeletal fingers pointed to an empty winter sky,
Trees shivered naked in the cold.
But hope was striding in with spring,
Brightening rings of promise on the bough.

She, decked in verdant green, appeared,
My eyes assaulted, winter’s blindfold gone.
In that warm breeze, her lovers breath,
She danced all spring and summer long.

Then darker days his ardour chilled
And angered gales tore forth her end.
Just one last dance from branch to ground
And then he veers and lets her go.

Here she lies, flat at my feet,
Death’s sombre cloak of brown her dress.
Ribs burst sharp through fading beauty’s crown,
She will not dance or charm again.

One tomorrow that can never be,
Her rise and fall complete,
She is absorbed in time,
To feed the future, reason, joy and rhyme.

Aleksandra Lachut

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/one-leaf/