Once these were busy thoroughfares
On a green and sunny day
Water rushing up from the roots
Processed food being carted away.
This was an oxygen- processing unit, too,
Till the air itself turned into fog,
And the winter chill settled itself down
To write the leaf’s epilogue.
A delicate tracery of veins still remains
Which will crumble away soon, although
Artists may immortalize it, poets show
How much we humans owe..
To the humble leaf.
Great poem! I like the reverence for the details of a leaf–“water rushing up from the roots” “this was an oxygen-processing unit too”–and the way you paint a picture of something that we often take for granted but that has such profound beauty and impact on our lives.