What Good Are Leaves?
by Sharon Portnoff
The first day of autumn
And I am driving down 95 toward Connecticut
My new home away from you
The leaves on a tree here or there lining the road
Have begun their yearly change from
Green to red or yellow or something in between
My mother told me as a child
That a tree must store its strength for winter
And nourishing leaves would deplete its energy
The leaves are simply closed off
Left without water screaming in color
Before their inevitable fall
Do leaves keep trees warm in summer?
Do they help them bear rings in spring?
And why this deathly chorus?
Can it be for us?
For you alone at your desk with pen and paper?
For me in a marriage never to be?
What good are leaves?
Copyright © 2010 by Sharon Portnoff.