In mid-autumn
the dying still grip
firmly to life-
stem to branch,
branch to trunk,
trunk to roots in the ground.

Then October turns the page
and November
winds blow in
drenching rain.
Storm swept
leaves loosen
in animated tumble,
a tousled chlorophyll
kaleidoscope.

Float disconnected
to soil, pond
and sidewalk,
settling flat,
to mark the spot
like an epitaph
until raked together
into composting piles.

Disembodied imprints
of ghostly leaft-overs–
veins and rib, lobes and tip.
Shadows of summer
remembered, treasured,
now lost to the wind
and rain of autumn.