A MURAL OF VERDURE

A MURAL OF VERDURE

I swing and sway in my gown of green

There are many like me in the season of spring oh so serene.

Hi there! I'm a new-born leaf, chartreuse and lush…

The tree is my mother; olive, lime, mint and smaragdine — my color of blush!

A merry breeze comes whispering along

We swish and rustle, it's our only happy song.

Creating our orchestra and music,

We proudly call ourselves 'The Zephyr and the Acoustic'

Below our tree is a lawn of shamrock carpet

Bursting with four-leaf clovers, a velvet carpet!

Our green is cooling, our green is a soothing shade

Warbling birds, flitting butterflies and buzzing bees rest under our canopy of jade.

How the seasons quickly change and the birds in our tree have all flown!

Their nests are empty; the brood long gone…

The air is crisper, the wind is frigid

Autumn's coming; I'm so still and insipid.

A colorful dream has replaced our green

Our gowns are now magically a blazing red, yellow or tangerine

I look down at the first sprinkles of snow

Some of my friends are already down there--Oh no!

My hold is loose, I have to let go

I may snap any moment, this is no time to woe.

I'll flutter one last time; mid air in the wind's embrace

The longed for pirouettes before I land with grace

I quiver and dance oh my! I have no wings... yet I fly?

All around is stillness ; not even a sigh…

I look up at my mother--- my tree, she looks so sad, bare and dry

I was her last leaf, to bid her goodbye...

On a carpet of rainbow leaves as I fall

I'll be one with them, another patch on a quilted shawl.

Through the air I'm like a rocking boat

Surrendering to peaceful sleep even as I float.

Another spring will soon herald

When bare wands are adorned again

With mosaic and murals of resplendent emerald

Every woodland in an exploding verdure carnival

Juniper, Sage, Moss, Basil or Laurel !

I see one last dream ---of the rustling of leaves, all the birds and their song

A year passed by too soon, am I wrong?

I take a bow just before curtain down

Alas! To become one with the earth in my gown of brown.

Pic Courtesy: ArtoonsInn Poetry Parlour

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